Ross M. Cavanagh
Ross Michael Cavanagh Jr., 95, of Lansing, died Thursday, May 13, 2021, at his home in Lansing. The first child of Ross and Marjorie (Miller) Cavanagh, he was born Sept. 28, 1925, in Evanston, Ill. The first 17 years of his life were spent moving between 14 apartments in three Chicago neighborhoods before finally settling in South Shore. After 1935, his summers were spent in the kerosene lit cabin on Squaw Island, on the eastern edge of Lake Duroy and exploring the Elk River in Phillips, Wis. It was here his life-long love for fishing and the outdoors was born and nurtured; he returned every autumn he was able for the rest of his life to fish for the elusive Muskellunge.
With his parents’ consent, he joined the U.S. Navy in 1943. After boot camp and radio school, Ross transferred to his post on the minesweeper YMS 50 in New Guinea in the summer of 1944. Ross and the YMS 50 swept mines during the Philippine campaign at Leyte and Manila Bay. On the morning of June 18,1945, the YMS 50 had orders to sweep off Balikpapan, Borneo to prepare for the invasion. They struck a mine. He and his 32 shipmates abandoned ship at their CO’s orders. After surviving several hours in the sea under heavy shore fire, they were rescued. Ross was always thankful and amazed that, at the end of that day, though many were wounded, none of his crew mates were dead. After the war, Ross returned to Chicago and, in 1952, found a place as a photographer for the Chicago Tribune’s marketing department, where he worked for the next 23 years.
In May 1960, after making a speech about the viability of a Catholic president at the College of Complexes on Clark Street in Chicago, an attractive redhead bought him a drink. She became the love of his life. Ross and Mary Ellen Carroll were married on April 28,1962, in McGregor. They bought a home in the West Lincoln Park neighborhood in 1964, where they raised their four children and several Airedales over the next 35 years. Here, Ross imbued his brood with his many passions—art in all its forms being primary. In the early 1980s, Ross secured a position with the city of Chicago at O’Hare Airport, where he worked until retirement.
At Ross’ urging, Mary Ellen and he returned to the hills of her youth in northeast Iowa in 1999 and settled in the valley of Village Creek outside Lansing. Here, he enjoyed summer evenings fishing for trout and listening to Edith Piaf while sipping John J. Jameson on his deck. Ross would often comment to Mary Ellen, “We live in a beautiful place.”
In addition to his parents, Ross is preceded in death by his wife, Mary Ellen; his sister, Mary Louise Ritcherson; his brother-in-law, Thomas Tallman; sister-in-law, Kathleen Milewsky; his nieces, Michelle and Bessie Rubenstein; and his nephew, Brian Cavanagh.
Ross is survived by his brother, Patrick (Marilyn) Cavanagh of Spartanburg, S.C.; his children, Ross M. Cavanagh III of Lansing, Sean (Michelle Kaiser) Cavanagh of Chicago, Ill., Kevin (Trish) Cavanagh of San Francisco, Calif., and Molly (Michael) Cummins of Edwardsville, Ill.; his grandchildren, Chloe and Abigail Cavanagh and Michael, Jane and Nora Cummins; and countless nephews and nieces, great and small.
In lieu of flowers, donations in honor to “Himself” can be made to the Alzheimer’s Association, or to the Wexford Foundation c/o Mary O’Neill, 2444 Wexford Hollow Drive, Lansing, IA 52151.
Visitation will be held from 5 to 7 p.m., with a 7 p.m. scripture service, on Friday, May 21, at Thornburg-Grau Funeral Home and Cremation Service in Lansing. There will also be a one-hour visitation before mass at the church on Saturday.
Mass of Christian burial will be at 11 a.m. on Saturday, May 22, at Immaculate Conception Catholic Church in Wexford, with Rev. Sean Smith as the celebrant.
Burial with military rites will follow at Immaculate Conception Catholic Cemetery in Wexford.
Thornburg-Grau Funeral Home and Cremation Service of Lansing is assisting the family with arrangements.
