William Keith Ross

Moorhead, MN, and

formerly of Minot, ND,

died Friday, December 27,

2019 at Eventide in Moor-

head, MN.

He was born on June 8,

1939, at St. Joseph’s Hos-

pital in Minot, a son of

Vern K. and Lucille

(Underwood) Ross. He

lived most of his younger

life in Burlington, ND, at-

tending a one room school

house until the third

grade and then attended

Burlington Elementary

through the eighth grade.

He then attended Minot

Model.

He married the former

Mary Ann Hunter at St.

Leo the Great Catholic

Church on May 9, 1959.

In 2019, the couple and

their family celebrated

their 60 year anniversary.

He first started working

at Morley Construction

and then worked proudly

at Mattson Construction

for over 35 years. He was

a heavy equipment opera-

tor. He would go to work

at least 30 minutes early

every day to get the equip-

ment started so the other

workers would be able to

start on time. He took

great pride in his work,

often taking his kids to

the job site to watch and

spend time with him.

During the flood of 1969,

he spent countless hours

working to protect homes

and businesses.

He played fast pitch

softball and then slow

pitch softball. He enjoyed

recreation basketball. But

most of all, he enjoyed

curling, encouraging his

sons to learn the sport.

He enjoyed watching his

children participate in

sports. For several years,

without fail, he would

travel to every Bishop

Ryan Catholic School var-

sity football game, often

with other parents on the

“fun bus”. You could also

find him waking up early

on Saturday mornings to

drive wrestlers to out of

town tournaments, spend

all day and drive them

home safely afterwards.

The Bishop Ryan Carnival

was a favorite of his. For

several years he ran the

“tip the bottle” booth.

William and Mary Ann

contributed enormously

in time, talent and treas-

ure to benefit Bishop

Ryan Catholic School.

He loved to fish, hunt

and camp. He liked going

to Arizona in the winter.

One thing he really liked

was talking politics with

his buddy Mike. He espe-

cially enjoyed watching

NASCAR every Sunday

and trash talking his bud-

dy Greg. He was a

member of the Operating

Engineers Local 49 and

the Knights of Columbus.

William is survived by

his wife of 60 years, Mary

Ann; sons, Bill (Laurie)

Ross, David (friend Con-

nie) Ross, Rick (Cindy)

Ross, Thomas (friend Car-

la) Ross and Jerry

(Sharon) Ross; daughter

Kari (friend Brian) Ross;

daughters in law, Karla

and Kristin and son in law

Jim; 19 grandchildren,

Ryan, Nathan, Kayla, Da-

vid, Andrea, Adam,

Alexis, Jacob, Annika,

Brandon, Austin, Mikay-

lah, McKenzie, Spencer,

Michael, Tony, Kymber-

lynn, Benjamin and Cam-

eron; 7 great grand-

daughters; two great great

grandchildren; sister

Deloris Wagner and

several nieces and

nephews.

He was preceded in

death by his parents,

grandparents and a

daughter in law, Geralyn.

Mass of Christian Buri-

al: Thursday, January 2,

2020 at 10:30 a.m. at Our

Lady of Grace Catholic

Church, Minot.

Visitation: Wednes-

day, January 1, 2020 from

5:00 p.m. until 7:00 p.m.

at Thompson-Larson Fun-

eral Home, Minot.

Vigil Prayer Service:

Wednesday, January 1,

2020 at 7:00 p.m. at

Thompson-Larson Fun-

eral Home, Minot