Sadly Dr. Aurther Ross – aka – “Gordie Howe” – to his friends, passed away earlier this year.
I’ve been friends with Art for 40 plus years, and have fished with him throughout much of that time, primarily during our trips to Branson’s and Trophy Lodge.
He was an accomplished angler, having caught all manner of monster trout over the years, and was the only guy I knew who more often than not would literally fall asleep while trolling, but even though he appeared to be completely out of it, he never, ever missed a fish.
In fact, no one could set a hook like Art, and when a fish hit – whether he was sleeping or not – up came the rod with lightning speed, and he would then lean as far back as possible in his seat and pull up so hard that both of his feet would literally come off the floor of the boat. It was truly a sight to behold.
And no shore lunch would be complete without a plate full of his barbequed salami – or as he jokingly called it: “Horse Cock.”
Our long-time friend and fishing sidekick Kenny Gold delivered the eulogy at Art’s funeral, and has kindly given me his consent to share it with the GBLO community.
Tight lines and rest easy my friend…
“Knowing someone for more than 50 years, you look back in time and begin to piece together all those moments we shared together. Art Ross was a guys guy. He made friends easy because he was easy to like.
Art loved bowling, playing competitive softball, and later in life took up Golf after purchasing a condo at Hollybrook in Florida over 20 years ago. He was an athlete, a very good one who excelled at everything he did, except Golf. But it wasn’t for lack of trying.
In fact, he got better the more he played, and it was just four weeks ago when he said he shot his best score ever a 94. Even at our age and stage of life, we still get excited and take pleasure in moments that seem trivial, but I understand it. He was so proud of himself and share the news with everyone. Of course, I wouldn’t let him enjoy the moment and told him if that’s the best you can do then it’s time to give up golf and go back to bowling.
When you’ve been close friends for as long as we were, there’s nothing you can’t say to each other just to get a laugh. And we certainly did a lot of laughing over the years. He would always remind me that I was his favourite pitcher to hit against in our softball league because he loved seeing me turn around on the mound after throwing a pitch to him and watch the ball sale over the fence for a home run.
Art was a man who at 85 still believed he was in his 40s. He had the uncanny ability to find humour in everything even when his body decided to remind him that he was indeed not 40 anymore.
But the best times we shared together were on our annual fishing trips to great Bear Lake at Plumber’s Lodge in the northwest territories. For almost 35 years, we made this journey together with a group of friends, and we couldn’t wait to get there and hated to leave when the week was over. The best moments on these trips were when we went camping for Three days. I can now admit that I slept next to Art in a tent on many occasions and what took place in the tent will stay in the tent. I can still hear him snore as if he was standing here next to me.
Art had a reputation of never discarding anything and always took too much with him on the fishing trips. I remember one trip when Art’s luggage was overweight, and he was forced to remove a number of items from his bag. I saw a large pile of things on the floor that he removed. Later on, I asked him what did you do with all those things you removed from your bag. He said with a smirk on his face, when she wasn’t looking, I put everything back.
So hopefully, there is a place in heaven, assuming that is the direction Art is heading, where he can meet up with his longtime best friend Bob Reznik, and spend some time reminiscing about the good old days. So speaking for all of his fishing buddies like Harold Ball, the Harbacks and many others it’s been great to share so many good times together and see you on the other side when our time comes.
Art told me that life was meant to be lived with joy, laughter, and a little bit of mischief. Here’s to you, my friend you’ve left me with memories that will forever make me smile. I don’t use the word love too often, but when it comes to Art , I truly loved him and will miss him always.”
