Donna Lee Ross

Services honoring and remembering the life of Donna Lee Ross will be held on July 26th, 2019 at 10:30 a.m. at Cedar Point Church in Claremore, Oklahoma. There will be a private graveside service at Ruddick Cemetery in Garfield, Arkansas at a later date. Donna passed away Thursday afternoon, July 18th. She was 79 years old. She was born on July 24th, 1939 in Fayetteville, Arkansas and was the daughter of Elbert and Catherine (Holbrook) Cunningham. Her father was the President of Arkansas Western Gas based in Rogers, Arkansas so that is where she and her younger sister, Nealia, grew up and went to high school. During her high school years, she met and fell in love with a farm boy who played basketball for Rogers High School. On August 1, 1959, she and her sweetheart, David Ross, married. After David's graduation from the University of Arkansas, both accepted employment with Phillips 66 and moved to Bartlesville, Oklahoma away from their hometown and families. Shortly afterwards, David accepted an accounting assignment overseas and although young and scared, they took off on an adventure of a lifetime with their two young children Michael and Catherine. Through the next 8 years, they made their homes in Tripoli, Libya, Brussels, Belgium, London, England, Oslo, Norway, and Stavanger, Norway before returning to Bartlesville in 1976. After both children graduated high school and went off to college, they accepted one last transfer with Phillips Petroleum to Denver, Colorado before returning to Rogers, Arkansas. Donna was the Director of Rogers Youth Center for 12 years and loved working with the children who enrolled in the sports programs. In 1999, Donna and Dave relocated to Claremore where she worked as the Director for Claremore Area United Way for the next 13 years until her retirement in 2014. Donna loved their vacation home on Grand Lake and many family memories were built there. She was a talented artist who loved to do oil painting and mastered the art of Ukrainian Egg painting or "Pysanky". She was a wonderful cook and because of that her husband rarely wanted to eat out because he thought her food was better. She was also a longtime member of PEO. Big family gatherings were her favorite and she always enjoyed a party! Her family loved her fiercely and will never be the same now that she is gone. Surviving members include her husband, David Ross; her children Michael Ross and wife Melissa, Catherine Woldridge and husband Roger; Grandchildren Grant Crossley and wife Nissa, Sara McMullan and husband Michael, Grace Lawhorn and husband Cory, Katie Ross, Brandon Woldridge and Brooke Woldridge LeForce. She also had 7 great-grandchildren whom she loved dearly.