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 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.
