Mary Elizabeth Ross (Schwab) died December 21st, 2024 after a long battle with cancer. She was born August 3, 1937 in Oconomowoc, Wisconsin to Caroline Annette Schwab Porter (Backus) and John Thomas Joseph Schwab. Mary received Bachelors and Masters of Art degrees in music from the University of Wisconsin Madison. She received a scholarship to study music in West Berlin, Germany for 1961-1962. At that time boyfriend Martin Hill Ross joined the Peace Corps and went to India.

At the conclusion of her scholarship, Mary went to India in September 1962. They were married in December 1962 in Ludhiana, The Punjab, India. The two lived in a small village so that Martin could do his Peace Crops agricultural work.

In September 1963, Mary and Martin returned to the University of Wisconsin Madison and Mary received a Master of Arts degree in Library Science. She played cello in the Madison Civic Orchestra and was a librarian at the University of Wisconsin Memorial Library until she and Martin moved to Kalamazoo, Michigan in 1966 where Martin had accepted a job teaching at Western Michigan University.

In 1965, the first son of Mary and Martin was born in Madison, Wisconsin (Martin Theodore Ross), followed by a second son (Scott Freeman Ross) in 1967 in Kalamazoo, Michigan. During this time, beginning in 1966, Mary began playing cello in the Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra, resigning in 1979. In 1970 Mary and Martin moved from Kalamazoo to a small farm. In 1979 Mary began working at the Western Michigan Libraries. Mary retired from the library in 2007. Mary learned to play base viola da gamba and her last musical performances were with the Antwerp Ensemble (2 recorders, harpsichord, and bass gamba).

In late October 2023, Mary and Martin sold all of the farm equipment and property and moved to Hillsborough, North Carolina, to live with son Martin and daughter-in-law Maryanne until Mary needed to go to the hospital and a skilled nursing facility. Mary will be cremated and interred at the Rosedale Presbyterian Church of rural Cambria in Scott Township, Columbia County, Wisconsin.