Roswell Marion (Ross) Piper, 76, of Terre Haute, passed away Tuesday, Jan. 20, 2015 at Regional Hospital.
He was born in Augusta, Georgia on Aug. 17, 1938 to E. Marion and Roswell (Wolfe) Piper.
Ross served in the United States Air Force from Apr. 2, 1958 until he was honorably discharged on
Aug. 1, 1961.
He received a B.S. in Business Administration in 1964 from Emory University and an MBA from the University of Alabama in 1967. Always quick with wit, Ross loved to joke that his 1973 PhD in Business Administration from the University of Alabama was his last educational effort to “Pile it Higher and Deeper”.
While studying at the University of Alabama, he developed a fierce loyalty to the university’s Crimson Tide football team and an intense dislike of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish and the Auburn Tigers, which continued until his death.
He taught in the School of Business of Indiana State University for 30 years, retiring in 1999.
Ross enjoyed art as a lifelong hobby, especially abstract and landscape painting, drawing and sculpture. He loved to travel, and enjoyed trips to France, England, Spain, Australia, Scotland and throughout the U.S. with his wife. Trips to New Orleans with his brother were always eagerly anticipated as well.
He was preceded in death by his parents.
He is survived by his wife of 51 years, Roberta (Robbie Elizer) Piper; daughters Marcy Davis and her husband Bill of Houston, Texas and Lea Hollowell and her husband Matt of Terre Haute; brother Lee S. Piper of Alpharetta, Georgia; and his beloved grandchildren Casey Shaw, Patrick and Lulu Davis, and Levi and Lexi Hollowell.
Ross requested that neither a funeral nor a memorial service be held upon his death and asked that his ashes be buried beneath a rose bush so he “could continue on as a blooming idiot”. His family is honoring his wishes to not have a ceremony but offers no guarantees on said rosebush. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations sent in his name to the Community School of the Arts through the Indiana State University Foundation, 30 North Fifth Street, Terre Haute, IN 47809. Online condolences may be made at www.debaunfuneralhomes.com.