Dr. Ian Kenneth Ross

Dr. Ian Kenneth Ross passed away peacefully on November 29, 2019 in Santa Barbara at age 89. Ian was born in London, England on May 22, 1930. He moved to Findhorn, Scotland during World War II, where he spent is youth outside on the moors with his dogs. He moved to North America in 1945 and attended and received his bachelor degree from George Washington University. Ian moved to Canada to work on his PhD at McGill University in Montreal, Canada. There he met and married his wife, Muriel, for over 63 years.  Dr. Ross spent several years teaching at Yale University before moving to Santa Barbara in 1964, where he taught biology at UC Santa Barbara until his retirement in 2001. Ian always enjoyed and encouraged education and travel by taking his young family to Europe for a year in 1969, backpacking in the Sierra Mountains, taking students to Santa Cruz Island, and meetings. Since his retirement, he and Muriel spent time traveling the world and being with family.   His love of family, nature, education, and life will always be remembered by those who knew and loved him.

He is survived by his loving wife Muriel, daughter Karen Klug (Michael) and son Keith (Bonnie), grandsons Jason, Eric, and Jason and great-grandkids Bella, Daisy, Ronan, and Cole.   

In lieu of flowers, memorial gifts may be made to the Santa Barbara Natural History Museum, 2559 Puesta del Sol where he spent many wonderful hours as a docent, educating visitors, and enjoying the exhibits.