Ross Call Larsen was born in Rigby, Idaho on 11 July 1922. He was 4th of the 8 children born to Ephraim Larsen and Irene Pearl Call Larsen. Siblings: Calvin Ephraim Larsen (1916-1992), Thama [Larsen] Pugmire/Brown (1917-1997) Mathew Eric Larsen (1919-1987), Dorothy [Larsen] Rowland (1924-2013), Ardith Larsen (1926-1928) DeEsta [Larsen] Windley/Rousey (1928-2020) and Shirley [Larsen] Salvesen (1931-2020). In 1925, when Ross was 3 years old, Ephraim & Irene moved their family to Ririe, Idaho where Eph opened up his own Barber Shop. Ross grew into a young man in Ririe and he delighted in telling his children and grandchildren the stories of his youth. One story that Ross told followed the breaking of a window by his daughter Lorraine. He laughed at the anxiety that she felt and related a similar experience. Ross had been throwing rocks on Main Street one day and accidentally sent one through the butcher's window. In order to replace the window, the butcher took Ross' prize possession, in his words, "He took my weaner pig!" His younger sister Dorothy made this entry in her journal regarding a serious illness he had as a child, "While still in first grade, Ross was stricken with strep throat. Dr. Price was so fearful he sent him to the hospital in Idaho Falls. There Ross remained for what seemed a long time. He was so weak he had to be carried. He even had to learn to walk again. He missed so much school they had to keep him in the first grade [for another year]." Ross was blessed with and recognized for his inquisitive mind. On one occasion he spent the entire summer working and saving every penny he earned. Once he had saved enough money, he went to the store and purchased an alarm clock. He then went straight home and took it apart just so he could learn how it worked. This characteristic remained with Ross throughout his life. He had few equals when it came to knowing something about everything. He attended schools in Ririe, then went on to the Idaho Trade School in Pocatello where he trained as a machinist . In 1941, he joined his brother Matt in Henderson, Nevada where they both worked as charter boat pilots on Lake Mead. He earned enough money at this job that he was able to purchase a new Chevy convertible. It was in Henderson that he met Ruby Lee Phillips and the story of their meeting as was related to the family went as follows: "One Saturday night, Ross was at a drive-in diner with a date and he spied Ruby and her brother Jack walking along the street. Ross asked his date if she knew the girl walking down the street. She replied that she did. Upon learning that she did, he then said, "Well, I want you to introduce her to me". After the introductions were made he offered Ruby and her brother a ride home. Jack got in the rumble seat in back and Ross got out and had Ruby slide in the front seat between himself and his date." After work the next day, Ross was so anxious to see Ruby that he showed up at her door in his old faded bell-bottom blue jeans and an old t-shirt with paint all over it and shoes with holes in them. He asked Ruby to go swimming with him, but because she was so embarrassed that he had caught her wearing an old sun dress that was faded in the back she made an excuse that she couldn't go because she didn't have a swim cap. Not to be thwarted in his efforts. He bought her a swim cap so that she would have to go with him. She gave in and went with him, but she brought along her sister and all her brothers. It was then that Ross and Ruby started dating. In the meantime, WWII was developing and Ross' staunch patriotism called at him to enlist. However, he wanted to marry Ruby and know that she was his before he went to war. He approached her father and was vehemently rejected. Ruby's father felt that she was too young to get married and that Ross did not make enough money to support a wife. Ross then approached Ruby's mother in order to obtain her consent. She was persuaded that nothing was going to stop them, so in order to keep them out of trouble, she gave her consent and went with them to Las Vegas, Nevada where they were married 27 September 1942. When they returned back home, Ruby's dad was sitting on the front steps waiting for them with a rifle across his lap. Ross jumped out of the car and was able to calm him down at which point Tom started crying and said, "Well, at least you could have taken me with you." Ross enlisted in the Marine Corps just three months later. He took his new wife who was expecting their first child to stay with his parents in Idaho for a time and then he went to Camp Pendleton, California for training. Richard Leland was born in 1943. The following September of 1943, Ruby and Richard were able to spend some time with him in Oceanside, California before he shipped out and spent the next 2 years of his life serving in the South Pacific during World War II. He spent time as a mechanic in the motor pools and also driving the amphibious beach landing vehicles for the military. The driver of the amphibious vehicles sat up higher than the rest of the men and Ross tells of the beach landings that he made and how he could hear the bullets whizzing by his head, but he remained unharmed throughout the war and was honorably discharged in December, 1945. With hopes to be reunited with his wife and son before Christmas, he hitchhiked and rode trains straight to Oklahoma where Ruby was staying with her parents. He arrived in the middle of the night. Richard, who slept in a crib next to Ruby's bed was surprised when he awoke to find that his mother was not alone. Ruby promptly explained to him that this was his father but Richard pointed to a picture of Ross that was hanging on the wall and said, "Uh-uh, that's my daddy!" Shortly after the New Year, 1946, Ross packed up his small family and headed for home in Ririe, Idaho. He worked that summer on the dry farms and he & Ruby started construction on a new home. In the fall of that year, Patricia was born. Ross also obtained employment with the Howard & Jordan Motor Company at that time and worked for them for the next 5 years. Joyce was born in 1950 and in 1951, Ross started his own company hauling milk for Kraft Foods and hauling coal from the Blind Bull Mine in Wyoming to sale to his neighbors. The business went well and a year later in 1952, a second son, Ronald Melvin was born. Lorraine was born in 1954 and at that time Ross changed jobs and started working for the Teton Trading Company. This company introduced Ross to a teamsters union and it was through this union that Ross came to work at the Palisades Dam as a pump crete operator where he worked for the next two years. Ross also worked for the Union Pacific Railroad for a time. Royce, the last of the children, was born in 1956. Ross was hired as a boiler operator for Argonne National Laboratories in 1958 and he retired from there 27 years later. Ross and Ruby raised their family in Ririe and often took them on trips as well as camping and fishing. On one camping trip in 1965 at Palisades Dam, as the family sat around the campfire, they heard screams and turned to see 2 bodies engulfed in flames running away from an explosion at a nearby campsite. Ross heroically chased after one of the children and as there was nothing but gravel on the ground, Ross put the flames out with his bare hands, only to discover that it was the life of his daughter Joyce that he had just saved. Ross was active in community concerns and as his father before him had done, he served as a volunteer fireman in Ririe for many years. Ross retired from Argonne in 1985 and he & Ruby started spending their winters in Arizona. Failing health stopped their winter exodus' and in 1995 they sold their home in Ririe and moved to Idaho Falls, Idaho to be nearer the doctors and hospitals. In his later years, Ross suffered several heart attacks and he died at home, of a massive heart attack sometime in the early morning hours of March 13, 1997. He was survived by his wife, his 6 children; Richard (Lola Jeppson), Patricia (Frank Fairchild), Joyce (John Chandronait), Ronald (Connie Blosch), Lorraine (Craig Simmons) and Royce (Jeanne Gardner) and 22 grandchildren (the last one born in November after his death) and his posterity continues to grow. Four sisters survived him, Thama Brown, Dorthy Rowland, DeEsta Rousey and Shirley Salvesen. He was preceded in death by his parents, two brothers, Calvin and Matt and one sister Ardith. Funeral services were on 17 March, 1997 and he was buried in the Ririe-Shelton Cemetery later that day.
Ross Call Larsen was born in Rigby, Idaho on 11 July 1922. He was 4th of the 8 children born to Ephraim Larsen and Irene Pearl Call Larsen. Siblings: Calvin Ephraim Larsen (1916-1992), Thama [Larsen] Pugmire/Brown (1917-1997) Mathew Eric Larsen (1919-1987), Dorothy [Larsen] Rowland (1924-2013), Ardith Larsen (1926-1928) DeEsta [Larsen] Windley/Rousey (1928-2020) and Shirley [Larsen] Salvesen (1931-2020). In 1925, when Ross was 3 years old, Ephraim & Irene moved their family to Ririe, Idaho where Eph opened up his own Barber Shop. Ross grew into a young man in Ririe and he delighted in telling his children and grandchildren the stories of his youth. One story that Ross told followed the breaking of a window by his daughter Lorraine. He laughed at the anxiety that she felt and related a similar experience. Ross had been throwing rocks on Main Street one day and accidentally sent one through the butcher's window. In order to replace the window, the butcher took Ross' prize possession, in his words, "He took my weaner pig!" His younger sister Dorothy made this entry in her journal regarding a serious illness he had as a child, "While still in first grade, Ross was stricken with strep throat. Dr. Price was so fearful he sent him to the hospital in Idaho Falls. There Ross remained for what seemed a long time. He was so weak he had to be carried. He even had to learn to walk again. He missed so much school they had to keep him in the first grade [for another year]." Ross was blessed with and recognized for his inquisitive mind. On one occasion he spent the entire summer working and saving every penny he earned. Once he had saved enough money, he went to the store and purchased an alarm clock. He then went straight home and took it apart just so he could learn how it worked. This characteristic remained with Ross throughout his life. He had few equals when it came to knowing something about everything. He attended schools in Ririe, then went on to the Idaho Trade School in Pocatello where he trained as a machinist . In 1941, he joined his brother Matt in Henderson, Nevada where they both worked as charter boat pilots on Lake Mead. He earned enough money at this job that he was able to purchase a new Chevy convertible. It was in Henderson that he met Ruby Lee Phillips and the story of their meeting as was related to the family went as follows: "One Saturday night, Ross was at a drive-in diner with a date and he spied Ruby and her brother Jack walking along the street. Ross asked his date if she knew the girl walking down the street. She replied that she did. Upon learning that she did, he then said, "Well, I want you to introduce her to me". After the introductions were made he offered Ruby and her brother a ride home. Jack got in the rumble seat in back and Ross got out and had Ruby slide in the front seat between himself and his date." After work the next day, Ross was so anxious to see Ruby that he showed up at her door in his old faded bell-bottom blue jeans and an old t-shirt with paint all over it and shoes with holes in them. He asked Ruby to go swimming with him, but because she was so embarrassed that he had caught her wearing an old sun dress that was faded in the back she made an excuse that she couldn't go because she didn't have a swim cap. Not to be thwarted in his efforts. He bought her a swim cap so that she would have to go with him. She gave in and went with him, but she brought along her sister and all her brothers. It was then that Ross and Ruby started dating. In the meantime, WWII was developing and Ross' staunch patriotism called at him to enlist. However, he wanted to marry Ruby and know that she was his before he went to war. He approached her father and was vehemently rejected. Ruby's father felt that she was too young to get married and that Ross did not make enough money to support a wife. Ross then approached Ruby's mother in order to obtain her consent. She was persuaded that nothing was going to stop them, so in order to keep them out of trouble, she gave her consent and went with them to Las Vegas, Nevada where they were married 27 September 1942. When they returned back home, Ruby's dad was sitting on the front steps waiting for them with a rifle across his lap. Ross jumped out of the car and was able to calm him down at which point Tom started crying and said, "Well, at least you could have taken me with you." Ross enlisted in the Marine Corps just three months later. He took his new wife who was expecting their first child to stay with his parents in Idaho for a time and then he went to Camp Pendleton, California for training. Richard Leland was born in 1943. The following September of 1943, Ruby and Richard were able to spend some time with him in Oceanside, California before he shipped out and spent the next 2 years of his life serving in the South Pacific during World War II. He spent time as a mechanic in the motor pools and also driving the amphibious beach landing vehicles for the military. The driver of the amphibious vehicles sat up higher than the rest of the men and Ross tells of the beach landings that he made and how he could hear the bullets whizzing by his head, but he remained unharmed throughout the war and was honorably discharged in December, 1945. With hopes to be reunited with his wife and son before Christmas, he hitchhiked and rode trains straight to Oklahoma where Ruby was staying with her parents. He arrived in the middle of the night. Richard, who slept in a crib next to Ruby's bed was surprised when he awoke to find that his mother was not alone. Ruby promptly explained to him that this was his father but Richard pointed to a picture of Ross that was hanging on the wall and said, "Uh-uh, that's my daddy!" Shortly after the New Year, 1946, Ross packed up his small family and headed for home in Ririe, Idaho. He worked that summer on the dry farms and he & Ruby started construction on a new home. In the fall of that year, Patricia was born. Ross also obtained employment with the Howard & Jordan Motor Company at that time and worked for them for the next 5 years. Joyce was born in 1950 and in 1951, Ross started his own company hauling milk for Kraft Foods and hauling coal from the Blind Bull Mine in Wyoming to sale to his neighbors. The business went well and a year later in 1952, a second son, Ronald Melvin was born. Lorraine was born in 1954 and at that time Ross changed jobs and started working for the Teton Trading Company. This company introduced Ross to a teamsters union and it was through this union that Ross came to work at the Palisades Dam as a pump crete operator where he worked for the next two years. Ross also worked for the Union Pacific Railroad for a time. Royce, the last of the children, was born in 1956. Ross was hired as a boiler operator for Argonne National Laboratories in 1958 and he retired from there 27 years later. Ross and Ruby raised their family in Ririe and often took them on trips as well as camping and fishing. On one camping trip in 1965 at Palisades Dam, as the family sat around the campfire, they heard screams and turned to see 2 bodies engulfed in flames running away from an explosion at a nearby campsite. Ross heroically chased after one of the children and as there was nothing but gravel on the ground, Ross put the flames out with his bare hands, only to discover that it was the life of his daughter Joyce that he had just saved. Ross was active in community concerns and as his father before him had done, he served as a volunteer fireman in Ririe for many years. Ross retired from Argonne in 1985 and he & Ruby started spending their winters in Arizona. Failing health stopped their winter exodus' and in 1995 they sold their home in Ririe and moved to Idaho Falls, Idaho to be nearer the doctors and hospitals. In his later years, Ross suffered several heart attacks and he died at home, of a massive heart attack sometime in the early morning hours of March 13, 1997. He was survived by his wife, his 6 children; Richard (Lola Jeppson), Patricia (Frank Fairchild), Joyce (John Chandronait), Ronald (Connie Blosch), Lorraine (Craig Simmons) and Royce (Jeanne Gardner) and 22 grandchildren (the last one born in November after his death) and his posterity continues to grow. Four sisters survived him, Thama Brown, Dorthy Rowland, DeEsta Rousey and Shirley Salvesen. He was preceded in death by his parents, two brothers, Calvin and Matt and one sister Ardith. Funeral services were on 17 March, 1997 and he was buried in the Ririe-Shelton Cemetery later that day.
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