Brian Ross, aged 75, passed away on May 13th at Toronto Western hospital after suffering a stroke. He was surrounded by his daughter, son-in-law and granddaughter at the time of his passing and was able to communicate his farewells to cousins Robert and Monique Fawcett and their son Michael who visited in hospital prior to his passing.

Brian was born in Belfast, Ireland to his parents Ernest Ross and Elizabeth (Patsy) Ross nee, Kilpatrick. He immigrated to Canada with his family when he was a young boy and grew up in the Riverdale area of Toronto. After graduating school he served briefly in the Navy for a year before being honourably discharged and beginning his career as a computer programmer. He worked for the Bata Shoe company for many years, which provided him multiple opportunities to travel and work for extended periods such as the time he spent in South America and India. Following Bata he worked for Cincom before finally freelancing for a number of years. He started his career working with computers that took up an entire floor of a building and ended his career preparing the computers to enter the new millennium.

Although Brian was single at the time of his passing, he shared his life with a few important women over the years. Jennifer Pitre (Huntley) has fond memories of renovating his house on Marjory while she was pregnant with their daughter Kristen whom she gave birth to in 1984. Elaine Moorhead shared 8 years of his life with him on Marjory and played a major role in helping to parent his daughter. They travelled together to Ireland and shared many family events together. Finally, for over 20 years Brian shared his life with Valerie Syme.

While his time in the navy was short, it provided him the opportunity to join the Royal Canadian Legion where he found a rich social life. He would go on Thursday nights to play darts and attend a variety of events put on by the Legion. It was at these events that he met Valerie Syme and where they spent much of their first years together. Some of the happiest times in Brian’s life were at the cottage that him and Valerie purchased together.

Brian enjoyed being in nature and finding solitude away from other people. He enjoyed his own company and would fill his days reading books, puttering on the various projects the cottage required and listening to the radio. He loved the cottage and took pride in building multiple structures such as “the Queens deck” for Val, a small shed tucked into the forest for him to read in as well as stairs and multiple decks for the cottage itself. It was a source of great joy and pride for him and he loved sharing it with others.

Although Brian was single, he shared his final years with his favourite companion Archie, a little white dog who was blind with diabetes. Brian would be glad to know Archie is being well loved by a family friend Angela who dotes on Archie almost as much as Brian did.

While Brian was an introvert family was still very important to him, particularly his daughter. Brian was a very involved father to Kristen and took great joy in sharing the world with her. He fostered a love of theatre in her by bringing her to theatre shows at Young People’s Theatre as well as bigger productions such as The Nutcracker. He shared his heritage and love of travelling, bringing her on a trip to visit relatives and explore in Ireland and France. He shared his values with her by exposing her to various culture and events around the city. Kristen attributes her love of food to the various cuisines he exposed her to both in restaurants and in cooking at home. 

Brian is survived by his daughter Kristen Morgan Strong  and son-in-law Ian Strong as well as his grandchildren Freyja and Aoife. He is predeceased by his parents Ernest and Elizabeth (Patsy) Ross. As per Brian’s wishes, he will be cremated on May 27th attended by immediate family only.  A memorial visitation will be held at the York Funeral Center on June 3rd, 2023 from 1 pm – 4 pm. A eulogy will be shared at 2 pm and others are encouraged to share their fond memories. The immediate family will be sharing a meal and raising a toast afterwards at the Frog and Firkin and invites others to join if they wish.