Ross R. Calvin
Ross R. Calvin, 99, resident of Cottonwood, California since 2000, died on April 2, 2018.
The elder son of Dr. Ross Calvin, New Mexican clergyman and Southwestern author, he was born May 31, 1918, in Lafayette, Indiana. His mother, Olive Adine Chilton Calvin, of Brookston, Indiana, died late in 1918, a victim of the worldwide influenza epidemic.
Calvin was raised in his grandparents’ home in Chrisman, Illinois, where he graduated from Chrisman High School in 1935. He served a machinist’s apprenticeship at Caterpillar Tractor Co. in Illinois and worked in defense plants during World War II. After a year in the US. Navy, he returned to Illinois and married Dorothy Leonhardt of Des Plaines, Illinois, in 1947. He then entered Northwestern University Technological Institute in Evanston, Illinois, graduating in 1951. Moving to New Mexico after graduation, he became a staff member of the Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory until 1986. He remained in Los Alamos after retirement, and unfortunately lost his house and all his possessions in the disastrous Cerro Grande fire of May 2000.
Calvin was preceded in death by his father in 1970, by his wife in 1971, by his half-brother, Rodney in 1987, and by his half-sister, Margaret in 2006. He is survived by five children, Charles (Inga) of Denver, Virginia (Michael Jacobs) of Seattle, Mary (Robert Bruner) of Fairhope, Alabama, John (Serine) of Seattle, and Thomas of Kent, Washington; seven grandchildren, Anne, Alana Le, Nicolas Jacobs, Richard and Joseph Bruner, John Isaac and Angelina Rose; three great-grandchildren; and a dear friend of many years, Earline McKee, who was by his side until a few hours before his death.
Although he spent his life among mechanical things, he inherited his father’s love of books and poetry, and after retiring, he wrote numerous autobiographical stories, principally for his children.
Calvin became a bornagain Christian in 1954 and attended churches in Los Alamos and Santa Fe, and later, Community Baptist Church and Zion Church in Red Bluff. His principal interest as a Christian was in the support of worldwide missions, Bible translation, and in helping the helpless and the unfortunate of the world. His favorite Bible verse - after John 3:16 was Matthew 25:40 - "what you have done for others, you have in fact, done unto me."
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to FINCA International. Burial will be at Oak Hill Cemetery in Red Bluff.