Margareta VanEtten Ross s wife

[gww]

for the folks that knew Ross s wife Marareta

Margareta VanEtten

Born June 21, 1927.
Died May 17, 2013.

Day care provider, longtime Colorado Springs resident. Survived by her husband, Ross H.; and a son, Henry Cossou. Memorial service,
10 a.m. May 28, Shrine of Remembrance “America the Beautiful” Chapel. Reception after service at Olympian Plaza Reception and Event Center, 975 S. Union Blvd. Shrine of Remembrance Funeral Home, Mausoleum and Crematory.
Colo. Springs Colo.

[exeric]

I don't know Ross very well, and I've only spoken to him a few times. I can only imagine the pain of losing your life's partner. Gene Harper gave me some great pictues he had taken of Ross's 1916 Ex and I liked this one of Ross and his wife.My deepest condolences to Ross, and Margareta's family and friends

[gharper]

Eric,

Thanks for posting that picture of Ross and Margareta. The picture captures her happy outlook pretty well.

I spent many hours visiting with her and was fascinated and amazed at her stories of how she lived through WW II in Germany. She was an AA gunner on the top of the apartment building where she lived with her family. The building was bombed into rubble and her entire family was killed. Somehow, she survived the rest of the war fending for herself as a 16 or 17 year old girl. She described the sheer terror when she was found in hiding by "the largest and meanest looking black man I had ever seen". He was a Morroccan soldier and forced her to come from her hiding place. She feared the worst but he took her to a safer hiding place, shared his food and pictures of his family with her and left her in peace. She also said some of the first US soldiers to come through were pretty nasty fellows! She married a GI and came to the US. That marriage didn't last but she met Ross some years later, they married and enjoyed many years together. I will miss her friendly smile, no nonsense attitude about lifes challenges and her sense of humor.

My condolences to Ross and Margareta's family.

Gene Harper

[koanes]

That wonderful Lady was plum full of life. I can't believe she is gone. I remember speaking with her on the phone one day a few years ago and she told me she had hurt her arm in a fall at home. I asked how she fell and she said she fell off a chair in the living room. I said good grief old woman, what were you doing standing on a chair? It turns out she could see a little better from that perch while spying on some neighbors with her binoculars. My wife and I really enjoyed her and Ross's recollections. She will be missed. I hope Ross is OK.