Robert Ross died of heart failure Sept. 30, 2013, at his home in Washington, D.C. He was 69.
Born on March 27, 1944, in Bryn Mawr, Pa., Robin was the son of Janet and Robert S. Ross. He received his early education at Episcopal Academy before graduating from St. Paul’s School, in Concord, N.H. He majored in art history at Princeton, where he was president of Ivy Club and a starting halfback on the varsity soccer team. Robin served in the Pennsylvania Army National Guard and received his law degree from Temple University.
In June 1966, immediately after college graduation, Robin married Louise Potter and started his legal career in her native New York, where their two children were born. In 1979 he joined Pennsylvania Gov. Dick Thornburgh’s cabinet, and in 1988 he was appointed chief of staff to Attorney General Thornburgh in the George H.W. Bush administration. During the ensuing years, Robin’s broad experience and sound judgment became the basis for a successful legal and government-relations practice in Pennsylvania and the nation’s capital.
In recent years, Robin and Louise resided in Washington, where they maintained active work schedules and a family life enriched by growing grandchildren.
To Louise, children Jennifer and Robert, and the rest of his family, the class extends its deepest sympathy.