Brian Allan Ross, a former Lakeside resident, and alumnus of El Capitan High School (class of 1961), passed away suddenly on Tuesday, June 13, at his home in Redlands, California. Sadly, he was in the midst of making contact with classmates who will attend his high school reunion this August.
  Throughout his later life, Brian could often be found in Lakeside as he visited with his family members who still live in the Lakeside and El Cajon areas. His mother still lives in the home where Brian grew up.
    Brian was born in 1943 in Chicago, Illinois to parents Allan and Dorothy Nell Ross.
    His early years were spent in Chicago when his dad was serving in World War II. The family later moved to Colorado in the Boulder and Colorado Springs areas, then to San Diego when he was in the fifth grade.  The family came to Lakeside in 1957.
    He began dating his wife-to-be, Virginia Ann Cobaugh, at El Capitan High School where they both attended in the school's very first year. Brian and Virginia, while still at Grossmont High School the previous year, were members of the "name-the-school" committee and the "nickname and theme" committee. Practices for sports, band and drill teams had to take place at alternate locations as the new school was nearing completion.
    Brian and Virginia were married in 1963. They were the first couple to plan a wedding in the new Presbyterian church on Channel Road. Unfortunately, a knee surgery for Brian delayed the wedding, and on July 13^th they became the third couple to be married in the new Church.
    A star athlete in high school, Brian was the 1960-61 leading basketball scorer in San Diego County. Virginia recalls one of the newspaper headlines that appeared with a picture and article after a big game with Granite Hills High - "ROSS CLIPS EAGLES WINGS!" 
    He was also a track star. His relay team set a school record that still holds up after 45 years when compared to times set at a recent state track meet. Brian was a champion shot putter, an excellent softball pitcher, a student body officer (commissioner of athletics), and an honor student in high school.
    He played basketball at Claremont Men's College, now Claremont McKenna College, and then graduated with a pre-law degree from San Diego State University in history, economics, and political science. He did his post-graduate work at UCLA.
    Brian worked in recreation and parks departments in San Diego and El Cajon before becoming the Administrator/General Manager of the Beaumont-Cherry Valley Recreation and Park District in 1979. During his years in recreation, he oversaw the design and construction of various community centers and numerous aspects of the parks themselves. He was the first to negotiate the

donation of a Grange facility to a recreation and park district and was instrumental in its historic restoration. Brian's career in parks and recreation, and as director of community services, was characterized by honesty and integrity, and he was very dedicated, never hesitating to join with any employee to help complete a job.
    Over the past few years of his life, he was a principle partner in the firm of Harvest Grant Consulting. Between that job and other grant endeavors, he won more than $200 million in grants for parks and recreation, police and fire departments and other projects around the country.
    Brian was involved as a board member in many activities in the Beaumont area, including the Cherry Festival Association, and the Friends of the Edward-Dean Museum in Cherry Valley. He was a founder, officer, and board member of the San Gorgonio Pass Historical Society and a member with his wife of the Lakeside Historical Society.
    Survivors include his wife Virginia, sons Chris Ross of Redlands and Terry Ross of Highland, mother Dorothy Nell Ross of Lakeside, brother David Ross of Lakeside, daughters-in-law Lisa Ross and Stephanie Ross, sisters-in-law Rindee Ross of Lakeside, Carol Dew of El Cajon, and Kathy Martin of El Cajon, brother-in-law Bill Martin, and nephews and nieces Sean and Scotty Ross; Colonel James Dew, Jr., Twila, Hayley and Katrina Dew; Susie, Chris, Jacqueline, and Julianne Agundes; Tom, Abby, Andy, Andrea, and Zoe Morton, Crystal Henry and Shawn Minor.