Ron Ross

Ron was born in his grandmother's kitchen in Ogden on January 6, 1928 to Cynthia Rosa (Taylor) and Clarence "Shorty" Ross. He played piano and marimba in the family band and attended Ogden High where he honed debate, singing and dance skills.

1946-47 Ron served in the U. S. Army as a music specialist. He attended BYU and graduated from Weber Jr. College. In the 50's and 60's he earned his BS, MFA, and Ph. D. in theatre arts, speech and ballet at the U of U. He served as asst. prof. in theatre arts at USU in the 70's. In Logan he taught readers' theatre, voice, storytelling, acting, ballet and mime. Ron acted, sang, danced and directed more than 100 community, college, and professional theatre and ballet productions. He was Willam F. Christiansen's assistant and danced with Ballet West and U Ballet Co. including in The Nutcracker. The Nutcracker doll was even fashioned to mimic Ron's distinct nose. Ron danced two seasons with the San Francisco Opera and Ballet Company.

In 1957 he auditioned for a new children's TV show on KSL. He had no TV experience, but neither did anyone else. He became Engineer Ron, whisking viewers to Cartoonville aboard Cecil the Diesel.

On November 23, 2019, the irrepressible and irreplaceable William Ronald Ross aka 'Fireman Frank' died in his sleep from heart failure. At almost 92, Ron lived large. He traveled, played piano at McKay Dee Hospital, taught voice and speech. He loved Senior Sneakers and The Golden Hours Seniors Ctr.