Remembering Ron and Iris Gross

Ronald Paul Gross
Ronald Paul Gross passed away at Antelope Valley Hospital in Lancaster, CA on August 1, 2016.
Ron was born in Chicago, Illinois on July 29, 1941 to Paul C. Gross and Eleanor V. Gross.  Paul, employed by Ryerson Steel as Chief Engineer in charge of Construction, passed away of Leukemia in June, 1969 at the age of 58.  Eleanor died of an aneurysm in May, 1991 at 79 years old. 
Ron moved from Chicago to suburban Hinsdale at age 14 in 1955.  He graduated with High Honors from Hinsdale High School in 1959.  He received a BS in Business Marketing from the University of Illinois in 1963, graduating with Highest Honors – Bronze Tablet designation (top 3% of graduating class).  Ron earned an MBA with High Honors in Marketing Research from the University of Michigan in 1965.  
While attending the University of Illinois, Ron met Virginia (Ginny) Thompson from Geneva, Illinois.  They married in 1963.   Ron worked his way up the corporate ladder at Ralston Purina Company from a Marketing Analyst position in Minneapolis, Minnesota to Vice President of Marketing Research in St. Louis, Missouri.  
Ron and Ginny had no children and divorced in 1982.
In 1983 Ron moved to Los Angeles, California to work for the Mattel Corporation. After he left Mattel Ron was employed by Teleflora Corporation.  
Ron and Iris Carol Raskin were married on July 17, 1983 and Ron became a step-father to Iris’s three teenage boys. Although Ron never had children of his own, he treated his stepsons as his own, helping to take care of them and enjoying family vacations together.
Ron’s wife Iris passed away 10 days following Ron’s death.
Ron is survived by his brother Al Gross (age 65) currently living in Cape Coral, Florida with wife Donna Gross.  Al and Donna own Blue Sky Builders and Realty engaged in real estate sales, property management, and home building.  They have two adult optometrist daughters and four grandsons all residing in the Chicago area. 
Ron is the Godfather to his good friend, Cliff Lavin’s daughter, Rachael Lavin.
Ron was an entrepreneur and started his own Market Research company. 
Ron will forever be remembered as a good guy with a big heart who always treated people with compassion and respect.  

 
Iris Carol Gross
Iris Carol Gross passed away peacefully at her home in Lancaster, CA on August 11, 2016.
Born Iris Carol Raskin on July 17, 1940 to parents Joe and Hilda Raskin, with whom she lived along with Sisters Jan and Linda and her beloved Aunt Bernice Sydell in Jamaica Queens, New York.
When she was still a young girl, Iris and her family moved to Far Rockaway and Queens, New York. Iris was very outgoing and worked as a baby sitter and a camp counselor in her youth. Iris loved the ocean and enjoyed going to the beach every summer.  When she was 17, Iris and her family moved to Colorado for her last year of high school. Friends remember Iris as a great dancer who smoked like a fiend. 
It was while she was attending the University of Colorado Boulder in Denver Iris met Leonard Sher.  After marrying in Colorado, Iris and Leonard moved to California in the early 1960’s so Leonard could pursue a job opportunity. Iris went on to have three sons, Todd, Brian, and Keith who were all born 18 months apart. Iris and Leonard divorced around 1968.
Iris and her Aunt Sydell always had a close and loving relationship and even though separated by living many miles apart they maintained that closeness by talking every day. 
In 1970 Iris married her second husband Lloyd Taylor. They were married for 12 years before divorcing in 1982.
While traveling for business Iris met Ronald Gross. In 1983, Ron moved to Los Angeles and he and Iris were married on July 17, 1983.  
Always an entrepreneur at heart, Iris was working in Market Research when she launched her own company with partner Harriet Wolfson. Iris was a savvy business woman and very successful at a time when few women owned their own businesses.
Iris was of Jewish heritage and although she was not particularly religious, she cherished the holidays as time to be spent with family. So that her children never felt different from other families, she celebrated Christmas with lots of presents for the children and a huge Christmas tree jokingly referred to by Iris as a Hanukah bush. For her family, Iris made Christmas the best and wildest day of the year. Iris would shop year-round to find the perfect gifts for her loved ones. Iris loved to cook and Jewish holidays were celebrated with traditional prayers and delicious traditional foods prepared with a lot of love. Iris felt it was important to involve her grandchildren in Jewish traditions and led the family in observing Jewish Holidays. As was the case with every get together, Iris always prepared more than enough food so that her family could take food to be enjoyed later at home. 
Iris and Ron loved to travel together and with the family. They took many cruises to Caribbean, Panama Canal and Alaska as well as traveling through Europe. Family vacations and reunions were held in Las Vegas, Hawaii and on cruises. Family trips were also taken to visit Iris’s parents and Grandmother Tilly who had moved to Florida from Colorado.
Iris and Ron shared a love of playing cards. Iris became a Life Master in Bridge and played poker throughout her life. Iris also used to play Mahjong every week with her friends.
Iris is survived by her children, Todd (Leigh), Brian, and Keith (Amber), her Aunt Sydell, Sister Linda, daughter-in law Kathy, grandchildren Justin (Tiffany), Matthew, Ashley, Samantha, and Connor, and great-grandson Jaiden.
Iris was preceded in death by her husband Ron who passed away 10 days before Iris, as well as by her parents and her sister Jan.
Iris will be remembered for being outgoing, quick witted, having a wicked sense of humor and being fiercely devoted to her family and friends.
Ron and Iris will forever be remembered as a fun-loving couple who enjoyed life and times spent with each other as well as family and friends. Their spirit and memories of good times will live on in the hearts of those who loved them.

“What we once enjoyed and deeply loved we can never lose, for all that we love deeply becomes a part of us” – Helen Keller