Dr. Christopher Robert Ross

Dr. Christopher Robert Ross (Chris), age 69, of Manhattan, KS, died December 12, 2021 at Ascension Via Christi Hospital in Manhattan, KS.

Chris was born April 29, 1952, the second of four children to Robert and Virginia Scott Ross in Bethany, MO. He met his first wife, Rita Fichter Ross, at Hickman High School in Columbia, MO; they were married from 1974 to 2002, and they had two children, Emily and Thomas.

As a young man, Chris lived and worked on his grandparents’ farm in Harrison County, MO. Inspired by his experiences there along with the books of veterinarian James Herriot, Chris earned his Bachelor’s degree followed by his Doctorate of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Missouri-Columbia in 1981. After practicing in Fulton, MO, he returned to MU where he received his PhD in Physiology in 1990. He then researched and taught in the Department of Anatomy and Physiology at Kansas State University College of Veterinary Medicine for the next 17 years. From 2007 until his retirement in 2021, Chris served at Oklahoma State University College of Veterinary Medicine as Professor of Physiological Sciences, Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, and finally Interim Dean.

Chris was married on July 14, 2004 to Diane Barker of Manhattan, KS. They met at the Blue Valley Yacht Club on Tuttle Creek Lake, and enjoyed sailing, boat camping and racing. Chris was proud of winning the Scott Liebler Memorial Day Weekend Race in 2004, 2005 and 2006, and the Round the Buoy Chapman Series in 2005.

Chris and Diane were happy to get out on the salt water and competed in the Sunfish Series at Davis Island Yacht Club on Tampa Bay. They cruised the San Juan Islands for a week with BVYC friends Marty and Harriet Ottenheimer and Jack and Jackie Holl, chartering a 3-stateroom Jeanneau, the Illumine, out of Bellingham, Washington.

Chris was brilliant, witty, and loyal. He valued education, hard work, and learning by doing. He taught himself to sail, and built a new mast step and replaced the mast after a yacht club dismasting on Tuttle Creek Lake. Chris embodied his love of the outdoors as a leader in both Boy Scouts and Sea Scouts, and warmly recalled a particularly arduous and rewarding trek with son Thomas across Philmont Scout Ranch in Cimarron, New Mexico. He enjoyed travel, and his work took him across the United States as well as to Canada, Italy, Afghanistan, and India. In recent years, he enjoyed remote fishing expeditions with Canada’s Kississing outfitters near Flin Flon, Manitoba. His passions and hobbies were widely varied and included cooking, gardening, furniture-making, politics, raising chickens, sheep, goats, and dogs, and entertaining his grandchildren. He was a voracious reader, ranging from the New York Times cooking section to Mark Twain, Calvin Trillin, and David Sedaris. He made a mean chili and loved the blues. He was a lifelong Democrat.

Chris was preceded in death by his parents, Robert and Virginia Scott Ross. He is survived by wife Diane Barker, daughter Emily Yeager of Manhattan and son Thomas Ross (Chelsea) of Salina, and six grandchildren, George, Isaac, Lucy, Logan, Macie, and Dalton. Chris is also survived by siblings Scott (Meredith) of Maryville, MO, Anne of Higbee, MO, and Carter (Denise) of Columbia, MO.

A memorial service will be held in his honor on Saturday, June 11 at 2:00 p.m. at the Unitarian-Universalist Fellowship of Manhattan on 481 Zeandale Rd., Manhattan, KS. Officiating will be Pastor Isabel Call. Memorial donations may be made to the University of Missouri Veterinary School, Graduating Class of 1981 at https://mizzougivedirect.missouri.edu/Item.aspx?item_id=553

The Yorgensen-Meloan-Londeen Funeral Home, 1616 Poyntz Avenue, Manhattan, Kansas 66502, is assisting the family with the funeral arrangements.