Stephen C. Ross

The memory of the just will be blessed” (Prov. 10:7)
Stephen Campbell Ross, MD, age 67, resident of Canfield, Ohio, passed away peacefully on July 18, 2019 after a long illness. He was born November 3, 1951, in Ann Arbor, Michigan, to Ian Campbell and Alberta Ross (Hoskins). Dr. Ross was a 1969 graduate of Governor Livingston Regional High School in Berkeley Heights, New Jersey; a 1972 graduate of the University of Pennsylvania; and a 1977 graduate of the Boston University School of Medicine, where he was a member of the Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Society. After serving as the Chief Medical Resident in Internal Medicine at University Hospital in Boston, he went on to complete his Fellowship in Infectious Diseases followed by a Research Fellowship in Infectious Diseases at the Boston University Medical Center. From 1983-1987 he was Assistant Professor of Medicine at the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor.
With Dr. Ross’s early demise, the world has lost a brilliant, compassionate, and beloved physician who devoted himself to his students, his patients, and his family, serving the community of Kalamazoo, Michigan, for a quarter of a century, and training many residents of the MSU-KCMS program. More recently, Dr. Ross brought his talents to Youngstown, Ohio, where he was recruited to establish an Infectious Diseases department at Northside Hospital. His research contributions were in the areas of Neisseria meningitidis, which causes meningococcal disease and immune complement deficiency—work that remains significant in current medical practice.
While teaching at KCMS, Dr. Ross received numerous awards for outstanding resident teaching, including being voted Residents’ Choice for Subspecialty Professor of the Year. His loving care for those stricken in his community with AIDS and HIV earned him praise and friendship, and a special award from the Kalamazoo Community AIDS Resource and Education Services (CARES) organization. Dr. Ross had a gift for discerning solutions to infections that eluded other experts, prompting one KCMS colleague to describe him as Kalamazoo’s version of “House” [the TV doctor] --only nicer. But most of all, Dr. Ross brought kindness and compassion to his work as a practicing physician. His dedication and devotion to his patients and their families was unparalleled, and his consistent willingness to take the extra time needed saved many lives throughout his remarkable career.

Outside of work, Dr. Ross enjoyed good music, good food, good wine, good books, and the company of his family, and beloved rescue cats Sophie and Bug. He was a highly-skilled photographer, known for making “bridge trips” to photograph railroad bridges around the country, especially those ready for demolition, and he even self-published a book entitled “Rivers, Rivets and Rust.”
After an earlier marriage ended in divorce, he married his high-school sweetheart, Gail Pilgrim, a law professor, on June 28, 1997, in Raleigh, North Carolina. In addition to his wife, he leaves behind his loving family: daughter, Katharine Cansfield (Ross) (Timothy Cansfield) of Belmont, Michigan; stepson Mark Johnson (Emma Johnson) of Birmingham, Michigan; stepson Christian Johnson of Grand Rapids, Michigan; sister Carolyn Doughty (Ross) and brother-in-law, Gregory Doughty, both of Wheaton, Illinois; sister-in-law Diane Pilgrim of Portage, Michigan; and nephew Bryan Doughty (Elana Spivak) of Lockport, Illinois.
Lane Family Funeral Homes in Canfield, Ohio (website: www.lanefuneralhomes.com ) is handling online tributes. In lieu of an immediate funeral service, a celebration of Dr. Ross’ life will take place at a later date in Kalamazoo, Michigan.