Coleman D. Ross
Carol Morde Ross
March 30, 1943 – May 26, 2022
Carol Louise Morde Ross was born to Eunice and Elton Morde in Rockville Center, NY. Her early childhood was spent in Little Neck, NY and Arlington, VA. A graduate of Washington-Lee High School in Arlington, Carol attended Mary Washington College before transferring to University of North Carolina from which she graduated in 1964 with a BA degree in Religious Studies.
Carol and Coleman Ross were married August 26, 1965, and began their married life in Tampa, FL. Carol was a mother of three young sons there when she returned to school and in 1976 received an AS degree in Nursing. Shortly thereafter, the Rosses moved to Simsbury, CT.
Her nursing career evolved as she became more involved with patients. As head nurse of a nursing home, overseeing the care of sixty patients, she realized that working one-on-one was much more rewarding than administrative responsibilities. This led to her earning a master’s degree in Counseling from St. Joseph’s College in West Hartford, CT. She then worked at Gray Lodge Shelter for Women and the Institute of Living in Hartford and the Fifth Avenue Counseling Center in New York while attaining certification as a Clinical Nurse Specialist. She then entered private practice as an Advanced Practice RN that would last for eighteen years. Along the way, she also found time to serve as President of Simsbury’s First Church of Christ Women’s Fellowship and its Senior Minister Selection Committee and guide her three sons to their Eagle Scout awards.
Carol found her life’s purpose as she asked the question, “How can I help?” She was able to determine needs not recognized by others and set out to make a positive difference for many.
When Carol and Coleman moved to Chapel Hill, NC in 2006, Carol found another way to help others – she teamed up with the Inter-Faith Council and opened a volunteer mental health clinic at their men’s homeless shelter. She served on both the IFC’s Board of Directors and UNC School of Nursing’s Foundation Board. For her volunteer service she received the IFC’s Community Champion Award in 2015 and the nursing school’s Honorary Alumna of the Year in 2018.
Always a nature lover, Carol enjoyed watching and feeding birds. Her “happy place” was near water. She especially enjoyed their summer cottage on West Hill Pond in Connecticut and more recently relaxing under a pelican flight path at Carolina Beach.
Carol Ross will be greatly missed by those who survive her: Coleman D. Ross, her husband of 56 years; sons: Coleman Ross, Jr., Asheville, NC; Jonathan Ross, Denver, NC; Andrew Ross, Chapel Hill; and granddaughter, Tori Bobrowski and fiancé, Jonathan Thompson, of Charlotte, NC. She was predeceased by her parents, her brother Richard Morde, and her step-father Harry Doty. Other immediate family members surviving are her brother David Morde and his wife, Diana; step-sisters: Elissa Doty Hellgeth and husband, Matthew, and Joy Doty Pechan and husband, Marc; sisters-in-law, Jeanne Morde, Pat Ross, and Nancy Jo Smith; and many nieces and nephews.