Death Notice
Catherine Louise Sheldrick Ross died peacefully on September 11, 2021 following biliary cancer at 75 years of age.
She is predeceased by her husband, George, and survived by her son Jacob Ross, her daughter, Sarah Ross, her son-in-law, Zachary Wills, and her grandsons, Finley, Beckett and Cormac Wills.
Catherine Ross, a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, was born on November 4, 1945, to Russell and Elsie Sheldrick in London, Ontario. She studied at the University of Western Ontario (BA, PhD, MLIS) and the University of Toronto (MA). She continued at the University of Western Ontario as a Professor, and later as Dean, in what is now the Faculty of Information and Media Studies. Her research focused on the experience of readers, on reference services and readers’ advisory, and on Canadian literature, particularly the works of Alice Munro. She is the author of numerous scholarly books as well as four children’s books.
Her research on reading for pleasure grew out of her own lifelong passion for reading. Beginning with the nightly reading of stories to her children, and later to her grandchildren, she spread this love of books and of learning to the whole family.
Cath traveled the world for a year with her husband, backpacking through remote countries before cell phones and internet made this easy. After retirement, she hiked the Camino. She loved camping, and took yearly canoe trips with her family in the Ontario wilderness, particularly Killarney Provincial Park. She was expert at knot tying and could light fires with a single match. For the last ten years, she spent much of her free time at her cottage on the Bruce Peninsula, where she enjoyed swimming, kayaking, and hiking with her dogs, Ruby and later Blue.
Catherine was a wonderful mother, wife and friend. She was a rock. She was always dependable, supportive, and loving. She was energetic and optimistic about life, even to the end after her cancer diagnosis. Her family, friends, colleagues and students will remember her as someone who combined selfless generosity with unfailing strength and courage. We will miss her greatly.
A private funeral will be conducted at St. John the Evangelist Anglican Church on Saturday September 25 at 11:00 a.m. There will also be a Zoom broadcast. Please email the funeral home at info@harrisfuneralhome.ca for an invitation. All are invited that day to a Celebration of Life at the Ivey Spencer Leadership Centre for a light lunch from 12:00 – 2:00 p.m.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Bruce Trail Conservancy to support a land trust for the protection of natural areas on the Niagara Escarpment, to the Department of FIMS at UWO to support graduate education in Library and Information Science, or a charity of your choice.
Condolences may also be emailed to: info@harrisfuneralhome.ca
Our most sincere sympathies to the family and friends of Catherine Ross 2021..
Death notice for the town of: London, Province: Ontario