After a 30-year career in drafting and design engineering, Ross is retired and lives in Haines City, Fla. He began his education at Williamsport Technical Institute in March 1965, just before it transitioned to a community college. He was in the college's rehabilitation program, which evaluated the abilities of those with physical disabilities and trained them for careers, and roomed at Mammy Wheeland's at 966 Vine Ave. "In those days, school was parallel to industry; in other words, you attended school 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. with a break in the morning, lunch, and another break in the afternoon, and two weeks off in the summer." He and another student were hired as technical illustrators by International Correspondence Schools in Scranton. He continued his education in engineering at Penn State.