Daniel Kent Ross
Daniel Kent Ross, 61, passed away on July 26,2021 in Houston, Texas. Born on May 23rd in Ashland, Kentucky to Jeanne Hunter and Charles Ross. He is survived by mother Jeanne and step-father Bob Hunter, brothers David Brent Ross and Rob Hunter, sister and brother-in-law Lolly and Rick Gastaldo, niece Katie, nephews Derek, Charlie, Nick, Nate, Christian, Cameron, Max and Zach and many loving friends including Linda Hunter, Shawn Scott and Steve Goldston. He is preceded in death by father Charles, stepmother Shella and sister Meghan.
He had a passion for reading, hiking and debating any point there was to debate. He was a generous, loving, highly intellectual and loyal friend. He earned bachelors from The Ohio State University and his Masters and PHD in Geology from the University of Houston.
Fare thee well, we love you more than words can tell. A private service will be held in Columbus, Ohio to celebrate a life well lived.
I worked with Kent and he was a kind man. He was always there to offer help if I needed it. He will be missed.
I had the good fortune to be able to work with and get to know Kent over the last 15 years. He was a great colleague and good friend and made the workplace a little brighter every day. Kent was always eager to tell people what he was working on and never shied away from a discussion or a debate, always with a smile on his face. His impact on the workplace was huge and he will be missed by all of us who worked with him. Condolences to his family and close friends. Godspeed Kent.
My condolences to all of Kent’s family and friends. When I first started doing research at NASA Kent took me under his wing and helped me with my research. He was such a smart and kind person and he will be greatly missed.
I was sad to hear of Kent’s passing, but fortunate to have known and worked with Kent from the first day he joined our team in ARES / Jacobs, until his retirement several months ago. I worked closely with Kent on several projects and always enjoyed working and interacting with Kent. His passion for science was easy to see and I will miss those discussions and debates on such topics. Kent was a friend, colleague, and great human being. He will be missed!
I never had the honor to meet Kent in person, but I have spent several years reading his work, which became an inspiration to me while attending graduate school. He was brilliant and talented. My sincere condolences to his family.
I’ll never completely recover from your absence. You were one of only a couple of my high school friends with whom I remained in contact over the years. You were on of the most brilliant minds I’ve ever known. You were generous, feisty, funny, sweet and aggravating all rolled into one. Having you in my life for 40+ years was a genuine gift. I’ll love you forever.
Kent was a wonderful student at UH and a great compadre. He was one of my hubby’s favorite graduate students way back when. The last time we chatted was when he was in Hawaii and I was pleased to see he still had his quirky sense of humor. The world was a better place for having him. Condolences to his family and friends from his colleagues at the Texas Center for Superconductivity at the University of Houston.
Kent you made my teenage years bearable!!! You were such a fun and funny and caring friend— for a lifetime, it turned out. I will miss you so much. Enjoy the heck out of your afterlife!! I know we will meet again. Much love to you, dear friend.
My condolences to Kent’s family—you have given to us a gem of a person, one who left a big mark on all those who knew him. He was bright, kind-hearted, and gentlemanly. Kent was a graduate student of mine and a collaborator back in the 1980’s and 1990’s. He was a true intellectual, with a broad range of interests in science, literature, history, and national affairs. He was quick to smile and to tolerate the foibles of others. It has been my great pleasure to know him and debate him for decades.
Oh Dear Kent! I am so sorry to hear this news so late. I am so sock that I couldn’t think. Please rest and my prayer is with you!
So sad to learn of Kent’s passing. I remember him well from when he was a student in elementary school and he was such a smart young man even then. (I was his substitute teacher and PTA President and my son and he were in the same class from kindergarten on). At his last class reunion we had a great conversaton but I would never have thought it would be our last. Deepest sympathy to all who loved him for your loss..
Kent was my laboratory instructor in a geology class in about 1984. We became close friends. Kent and I had many adventures camping, hiking and studying geology in the Rocky Mountains and Alaska. He was very curious about everything. He read voraciously and widely, loved music, loved life. He was bright and fun. I loved him dearly.
Kent and I had many conversations over recent years as we both were managing electron microprobe laboratories. I got to know him more and more during that time. We did lunch in the JSC area and that was relaxing compared to current life. We discovered a mutual interest in Frank Zappa music and to my pleasure he had more concert experiences than I have. He was dealing with cancer during our last sessions on the microprobe and we both knew what was eventually going to happen. That is the hardest part of life to experience, the knowing. He would always work in a “sin” break (as he called it) to have a smoke when we worked. He was a really great person and I enjoyed those times very much.
My thoughts are with Kent’s family and friends. Kent was wonderfully kind to me as I was learning to navigate running an electron probe laboratory. He will be missed.
I attended Ohio State, including field camp, with Kent. We had many, many spirited technical and philosophical discussions. I regret that we did not speak often over the years but do treasure the memories and the insights he invariably contributed to any analysis.
I met Kent back in 1983 when we both worked at Safeway. We lost touch for several years and reconnected in 2015, and were able to stay in touch. I remember when he first told me about the cancer and and saw how difficult it was for him to eat. We always enjoyed going to have Thai food and catching up with each other’s lives. My 6 year old daughter would go with me to his house and he would show her rocks and give her candy. He would always come over to our house and bring my wife books about art and hang out and talk for hours. We will miss you terribly Kent. We love you!