Obituary for Virginia “Jenny” Ross

Virginia "Jenny" K Ross

January 30, 1937 – September 25, 2015

Virginia K. (Jenny) Ross, resident of Shidler, passed away Friday, September 25, 2015. She was 78.

Virginia was born in 1937 in Canute, OK, to Carl and Johnie Clapp. The family farmed in Canute before moving to Allison, TX when Virginia was a year old. They later moved to Tonkawa briefly before the family settled in Webb City, where they ran a grocery store. Virginia attended school at Webb City through 8th grade and graduated from Shidler High School, where she played on the women’s basketball team.

Virginia fell in love with ranching at a young age; she and her siblings would ride their ponies to drive cattle out of the sagebrush in Texas. As a teenager she saved her money from working at her parents’ store and bought her first cattle when she was still in high school. When she graduated, she leased her first pasture west of Webb City, with 25 cows.

In 1972 she married John (Johnny) Ross; they lived on his farm east of Shidler, where they raised cattle and wheat. Virginia continued to build up her herd of cattle; when John died in 1989, she took over the entire operation, running it without any hired help. In 2005 she was chosen as an ”outstanding Woman in Agriculture” by the Osage County extension office in recognition of her years of independently running a successful cattle ranch.

Virginia loved riding horses, hunting, trout fishing, and cheering on Shidler’s school sports teams. She was active in the community, teaching Sunday School and Vacation Bible School at the Shidler Methodist church. Her lemon meringue pies were highly sought after at local charity auctions.

Virginia is survived by her children Buddy and Mannon Thomas of Pawnee; Dorothy Warren of Ponca City; John Daniel (Danny) Ross, Jr. of Fresno, CA; and Cathy Ross and Diane Wilson of Hutchinson, KS. She has numerous grandchildren, including Brett Thomas of Stillwater; Erin and Lauren Thomas of Ponca City; Jaima Hargraves of Ponca City; Jaelynn Warren (of Tulsa); Jenifer Sharp of Las Vegas; Gideon Gardner and Jayda Smith of Pawnee; Jordan Gardner of Moore; Greg Wilson of Kansas City; Jon Wilson of Topeka; Christopher Ross of Fresno; Bethany Ross of New York City; and Laura Markarian of Fresno. She also has six great-grandchildren: Benjamin and Gracie Hargraves, Nicholas Villio, and Jackson, Piper, and Fletcher Holt. She is survived by six siblings: Johnie Grace Duggan of Payson, AZ; Carlene Harbeson of Webb City; Chris Christopher of Noble; Carl Clapp Jr. of Cedar Vale, KS; David Clapp of Bartlesville; and Francis Noble of Skiatook; one uncle, Ed (Buddy) White of Cedar Vale; and many nieces, nephews, and cousins.

Care of the family is under the direction of Grace Memorial Chapel in Ponca City. Viewing will start at noon on Tuesday, September 29. Services will be held at 10 a.m. on Wednesday, September 30th, at the Shidler United Methodist Church; burial will follow at Grandview Cemetery at Kaw City.

In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be made to the Shidler Public Schools (Shidler Schools, attn Kerri Robinson, PO Box 85, Shidler, OK 74652) or the Shidler United Methodist Church (PO Box 366, Shidler, OK 74652); please indicate donations are in memory of Virginia Ross.