Reggie Ross - December 24, 2019

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dewdropsonrosa

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Location
Chicago, IL
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I'm deeply heartbroken to report that Reggie Ross passed away on December 24, 2019. From the limited information available at this time, he experienced a medical emergency in Ginnie Springs and died shortly after leaving the water. [EDITS: the original post stated that the incident took place in the water, which was based upon one of the earliest reports available online. The corrected version of events has been confirmed.]

I first met Reggie by phone in October 2018 when I was looking for a cave instructor; Jim Wyatt referred me to him. Within the first few minutes of our call, I already knew how special an instructor that Reggie was. We talked about my diving background and the nineteen-year-long fire that had been burning in me to start cave diving. I was so excited to find someone who understood the drive; Reggie's love for the caves and cave diving shined through everything he did.

The most important thing that I can tell you about Reggie is that he cared. His style was caring by doing - I felt it every time that we prepared for a dive, checked our gear together, discussed the plan, and did our pre-dive safety checks. I felt his care every time that I saw his light circle OK? so that I could answer back, OK! I felt it every time that I put on a blackout mask for a drill. I could feel his care when he'd tap my shoulder to let me know that we were done. I felt how much he cared every time that we returned to the surface to debrief the dive.

I couldn't have asked for - or even imagined - a better instructor. I approached Reggie as a baby cave diver with a dream, and he welcomed me into the watery underground. So many of the most beautiful, most thrilling things that I've seen in my life happened during my dives with Reggie. Some of the scariest things that I've seen in my life happened during those dives, but I had Reggie with me. All of the serious **** I know about how to save my own life step-by-step, I owe to Reggie's patience and wisdom.

As an instructor, he didn't care about just his students. He cared about every single cave student, their training, and their progression into full cave divers. He became the Training Director of the NSS-CDS earlier this year and poured his soul into rebuilding a training program that he believed would create better, safer divers. I'm sad that he won't be here to see the fruits of his labor.

Reggie leaves behind family, friends, his beloved dog Bonnie, dive buddies, hundreds of students, and a legacy of 40+ years of work in diving and dive education. May we all care for one another as much as Reggie did for everyone that he dove with.
 
I am deeply saddened by this news. I was fortunate to be one of his students, and I can tell that, besides being an excellent instructor, Reggie was a great person to be around and to talk to. In addition, his passion for diving and for the caves was inspiring.
 
So very sad. I only met him once but certainly knew of him by reputation. Horrible loss.
 
Reggie taught me how to be a Scuba Instructor. Please forward any details on his funeral or whatever. What a horrible, horrible loss, both personally and to the community.
 
I was truly privileged to have Reggie as an instructor and even moreso as a friend. Just talked to him 2 weeks ago setting up my yearly visit. I will miss our dives together, the squirrels trying to steal his food, 1/2 priced burger night, and our chats. He taught me the beauty and wonder of caves and prepared me for the danger. This is a huge loss for his family and friends and to the Cave community. Rest easy old friend.
 
For me it is a bit shocking as I just saw him two weeks ago in cave country, and was looking forward to diving with him next weekend.

For me though I've only known Reggie for about a year, but he had an oversized influence on my diving in that time. I honestly am at a loss for words.
 
Although I have not had Reggie as an instructor, I have met him several times during my cave training. My instructor (Larry) & he were friends & shared very similar views on training philosophy. In fact, Larry frequently referred students to Reggie, when he, himself could not work with the student. The most memorable thing I can remember about him, was when it came time for my graduation dive.We were at Peacock Springs. Larry Saw Reggie & went over to greet him & find out his class plans. Well it so happened that Larry's & Reggie's dive plans were about the same. Larry was taking our group of 3 students & Reggie taking his 2 students into the Olsen tunnel to the Nicholson tunnel (that is a total of 7 people in a tiny & sometimes very dusty tunnel). Larry smiled at him & siad, "well,... let's see wha they can do". Reggie smiled back & nodded. Larry came back & informed us of what was goikng on & that our jobin the tunnels was to go in as far as he deemed necessary, then turn around & exit,.... without stirring up the silt. Reggie briefed the same plan to his students. Our group went in first, closely followed by Reggie's group. The dive went off without a hitch, as our group & Reggie's carefully maneuvered around each other. We came out & Larry announced that we had passed our course. when Reggie's group got back to the benches, Larry & Reggie shook hands & congratulated each other on the performance of their students. From what little I knew of him, he seemed to be a very tough, but fair instructor, a soft spoken, but passionate instructor & diver. He will be sorely missed by our small diving community.
 
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