OBIT: Long-time ±«ÓãÖ±²¥ supporter Gavin Ross was 75
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MONTREAL, Que. -- Gavin Ross, a long-time champion of athletics and jazz at ±«ÓãÖ±²¥ and past executive director of the ±«ÓãÖ±²¥ Alumni Association, died at the Montreal General Hospital on April 17, of complications from a recently installed pacemaker. He was 75.
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Once described as a man who may be "more Irish than the Irish," he was born Gavin Graham Ross, in Montreal on July 19, 1934, and lived in and around Westmount for most of his life.
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His first job was as a delivery boy for a local newspaper and one of the daily stops along his paper route was the home of Leonard Cohen, one of his classmates, who would later be a ±«ÓãÖ±²¥ graduate before going on to become an iconic Canadian singer-songwriter.
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Ross graduated from Westmount high school in 1951 and went on to attend Bishop's University in Lennoxville, Que., where he majored in history and economics, earning a BA in 1956.
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Three years later, Ross was elected president of the Conservative party in the heavily Liberal riding of Westmount. After working in the insurance and travel industries, Ross landed a position in 1975 as director of annual giving at ±«ÓãÖ±²¥, where he was mentored by Lorne Gales to take an active role in supporting student leaders and their projects to make their ±«ÓãÖ±²¥ experience a more memorable one.
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In 1983, Ross was appointed executive director of the ±«ÓãÖ±²¥ Graduates' Society, now known as the ±«ÓãÖ±²¥ Alumni Association, a post he held until taking early retirement in 1996. He was instrumental in developing the ±«ÓãÖ±²¥ Trust in the United Kingdom.
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After 21 years of employment at the University, he kept busy as a freelance consultant for many organizations, serving for more than a decade as honorary president of the ±«ÓãÖ±²¥ men's hockey team. He also founded and served as president of the Friends of ±«ÓãÖ±²¥ Jazz, in addition to his fundraising initiatives with the Redmen rugby team and the ±«ÓãÖ±²¥ Debating Union.
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Ross travelled the world many times over and used his extensive experience to help organize and fund numerous overseas trips for the ±«ÓãÖ±²¥ hockey, football and rugby teams, as well as the jazz band. Among the countries they visited together were England, Scotland, Ireland, France, Germany, Switzerland, Slovakia and Mexico.
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He befriended many students and a Gavin Ross Hockey Award was established - as well as a Gavin Ross Bursary for needy students - by friends and colleagues after his retirement.
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"Uncle Gav, as I called him, had known me since I was five years old," said Bryan Fuller, an actor in Hollywood who quarterbacked ±«ÓãÖ±²¥ to the 1987 Vanier Cup national football championship. "He was one of the funniest, most sardonic and witty people I have had the privilege to know. I last saw him at the 20th reunion of the Vanier Cup team and had stayed in touch over the years, via e-mail jokes and online Yahtzee. Truly one of a kind and I'll bet he's tipping a pint of Guinness with the Big Guy, right now."
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Ross was responsible for implementing the Town and Gown reception on campus for the graduating class and revived the old tradition of an alumni reception before home football games, essentially a tailgate party, featuring a pep band from the faculty of music.
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He was a member of the Westmount High School Alumni Association, served as a member of the Irish Protestant Benevolent Society and sat on the board of trustees of the Theatre Lac Brome in Knowlton, Que., where he moved a few years ago.
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In 1987 Ross was awarded an honorary lifetime membership in the ±«ÓãÖ±²¥ Graduates' Society. He was also a recipient of a Carol and Stephen Herbert distinguished service award from the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education, for exhibiting an extraordinary devotion of time and energy to District I affairs, a geographical area which represents universities in the northeastern U.S., Quebec and the Maritimes.
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Predeceased by his parents Graham and Edna, he is survived by his brother's family (Alan and Jane) and four nephews (Michael, Andrew, David and Geoffrey) of Ottawa.
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A memorial service will be held on Saturday, April 24, at 2 p.m. at The Church of St. Andrew and St. Paul, 3415 Redpath Street in Montreal.Ìý In lieu of flowers, donations in his memory may be made to the Gavin Ross Student Award Fund (attention Susan Reid) at ±«ÓãÖ±²¥, 1430 Peel St., Montreal, Que., H3A 3P3.
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Online condolences can be left at:
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SOURCE:
Earl Zukerman
Communications Officer
±«ÓãÖ±²¥ Athletics & Recreation
514-398-7012
earl.zukerman [at] mcgill.ca
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