Arla Rose Ross died on June 13, 2011 at the Good Samaritan Center Nursing Home in Dowling Park, Fla. after a brief illness. She was born in Alton, N.Y. on September 8, 1926 where her family ran a 100-acre fruit farm and also faithfully attended the local Advent Christian Church. There she came to faith in Jesus Christ as a young girl and was very active in church life. Her mother was an ordained minister and sometimes served as interim pastor of the small country church. After graduation from high school, she attended the New England School of Theology in Boston (which later relocated to Lenox and became Berkshire Christian College). She remembered taking the sleeper train from western New York State to Boston when she left home for college at the age of 16. At N.E.S.T. she was an outstanding student. There she also met Lorne Ross and they were married on June 16, 1945. Lorne (or Larry) pastored churches in Eliot, Maine, Auburn, Maine, Charleston, W.Va., and Lenox, Mass. He also served as evangelist and superintendent of the Eastern Region of Advent Christian Churches for 15 years. Whether teaching the little children's Sunday School class, singing in the choir, playing the role of the consummate hostess, leading family devotions, or helping to raise their four sons (sometimes sewing her sons' clothes and coming up with creative menus to survive on their limited income), she was a wonderful support for her husband and a model pastor's wife. Her husband affectionately called her "the Queen" and she somehow accomplished every task with a special elegance and grace. She was a tireless worker and she kept a spotless house. When living in Waterville, ME during her husband's evangelistic years, she was employed as a secretary to Pastor Clinton Taber of the Waterville Advent Christian Church and when the family moved to Lenox, she was a secretary at Berkshire Christian College. She loved music and insisted that all four sons take piano lessons. She also became a spiritual mentor to many young women of the churches listed above and a godly influence to her growing family. While she had a quiet and reserved personality, her life had a powerful impact upon others. The secret to this was her extended daily prayer time and her family and friends already sense the loss of the umbrella of her prayer support. In recent years, she was active in the special prayer ministry at Bixler Memorial and her love of missions work was well known. She also took great pleasure in her eight grandchildren and six great-grandchildren. She was a Proverbs 31 woman and will be deeply missed by all who knew her. Arla leaves two brothers, Homer Collins of Alton, N.Y. and Dr. Oral Collins of Lenox, Mass., four sons and daughters-in-law: Wesley and Suzanne Ross of Lenox, MA, Rev. David and Shirley Ross of Taylorsville, N.C., Rev. Brent and Janie Ross of Loganville, Ga., and Stephen and Deb Ross of Albany, N.Y.. She also leaves the grandchildren and great-grandchildren mentioned above. She was pre-deceased by her husband of 64 years, Rev. Lorne Ross, and a sister, Marion Polk. A memorial service was held on Friday, June 17 at 2 p.m. at Bixler Memorial Advent Christian Church in Dowling Park, Fla. with visitation to follow. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Berkshire Institute for Christian Studies, PO Box 1888, Lenox, MA 01240
Published in The Berkshire Eagle on June 18, 2011