Obituary of Ruth M. Ross

Ross, Ruth. A resident of Silver Springs, FL since 1995, Ruth Ross was born in Houston, TX. She attended Columbia University, The National Academy of Art and the Art Students League in New York City. She is survived by her sister, Catherine Byrne of Silver Springs, FL, brother, Thomas Byrne of Putnam Valley, NY, a niece Carol Dunford and family of Seattle, WA and nephews Joseph Tiedeman and David Tiedeman of Burlington, NJ. After college, she went to work in Washington, D.C. for the Federal Bureau of Investigation. During World War II, Ruth logged over 1000 hours of flight time in small single-engine planes in preparation for joining Jacqueline Cochran's WASP GROUP in Sweetwater, TX, that ferried planes for the Air Force. At the end of the war, she returned to New York and was employed as an Account Executive for several Advertising Agencies and then as Research Manager for the A.C. Nielsen Ratings Co. Ms. Ross went on to become Vice-President and Director of Research for WNEW-TV: WOR-TV in New York and WFSB-TV in Hartford, CT. In 1985, she became President and Chief Operations Officer of her own Broadcast Research firm, ROSS RESEARCH ASSOCIATES with television clients nation-wide. During her career, Ms Ross was awarded the New York Television Stations Arbitron Innovator Award and authored several Industry books, "A Comprehensive Study of Cable Television" and "The Broadcast Audience Measurement Primer". Past Chairman of the New York Stations' Rating Committee, Ms Ross was a member of the National Academy of TV Arts and Sciences and American Women in Radio and Television, Inc. In 1978 she was selected to be included in the prestigious "Who's Who Of American Women". She traveled extensively throughout Europe, Africa, Asia and the United States. Ms Ross retired to Silver Springs, FL after living a number of years on Cape Cod, MA. She was a volunteer for the Brewster, MA Meals on Wheels program. She enjoyed gardening, oil painting and a lifelong love of animals.