Darlene Lillian Ross

Darlene Lillian Ross was born on July 21, 1933 in Santa Rita, New Mexico. At an early age she moved to El Cajon California and was raised by her mother, Mary Evelyn Ritz and step dad, Harold “Hap” Hill. She was very active in school and participated on the Drill Team where she was later selected as “Team Captain”. At an early age, Darlene expressed an interest in cooking and sewing for herself and her 3 brothers. This prepared her to receive a Distinguished Achievement Award in Home Economics presented by Bank of America both her Junior and Senior years. She graduated from La Mesa High School in 1952 and instead of going off to college; she worked various jobs to help with the family finances. While working for Woolworths Department Store, she met a good looking Navy man and on June 12, 1955 married Stan Ross. They had two children together and after fifteen years of marriage they divorced, which led to moving to Lakeside, AZ in June 1975 to help out with her aging parents. In July 1975 she was hired by Navopache Electric to work in the mailroom and over the course of her career worked her way up to Assistant Safety and Security Director, a position she held until her retirement on July 31, 1998.   Darlene had a love for everyone she met and was known for sending cards to anyone she thought needed one. It didn’t matter whether it was a Birthday, Valentine’s Day, Christmas or to express sympathy for the loss of a loved one, or just because. Her love of cooking and sewing benefited all those around her. Everyone at Navopache knew where to go for the treats and she would often share the family recipes with co-workers. She loved her Heavenly Father and served many callings in the LDS church. Her favorite calling in the church was, of course, Compassionate Service. She so loved to plan and coordinate luncheons, dinners and meals for people who needed them. She even had a book she kept that would tell you how many people a 10 pound bag of potatoes would feed. She was detailed in everything she did. After a short battle with liver cancer and surrounded by her loving family and those waiting for her beyond the veil, she passed away on September 10, 2016. She will be greatly missed, but the memories will last forever. She is survived by her daughter, Kathleen (Jim) Rice and her son, Kerry (Liz) Ross. She is also survived by 7 granddaughters, Amanda (Jesse) Barton, Christa (Danny) Uptain, Tiffany (Adam) Lee, Megan Rice, Jessica Ross, Emily (Joshua) Smith and Samantha Atchley. She had 13 great grandchildren who loved her so much, Jace Barton, Aadyson Ross, Jayden Rice, Jocelyn Lee, Logan Atchley, Bailey Barton, Parker Lee, Jade Lee, Noah Barton, Blake Uptain, Sawyer Lehr, Finlee Lehr and Natalie Lee. In addition to her family, she had many more kids that adopted her as their Mother and fondly accepted the name of “Ma Ross” which was a name given to her by her son Kerry’s basketball team at Blue Ridge. She also has many nieces, nephews and friends who will miss her also. She was preceded in death by her parents, Mary and Sam Baltezore, her 3 brothers, Ed Hill, Lonnie Hill and David Hill and her beloved aunt, Betty Woodward. She is now reunited with them. Her services will be Saturday, September 17th, 2016 at the LDS Church in Lakeside, AZ. A viewing will be held from 9:00 to 10:40 am in the Relief Society room. The funeral service will begin at 11:00 and then she will be taken to the Lakeside Cemetery for burial. Her family would like to thank everyone who called, visited and loved Darlene, especially her nurse, Beth Harbold, who took care of her and loved her through her last months on this earth. If you would like to donate, please donate to Hospice Compassus, Lakeside, AZ. They took such good care of her throughout her last days.