Reggie Ross - December 24, 2019

[The Chairman]

125 or so people gathered to celebrate Reggie's life and impact on the sport. The pastor was taken a bit back by all the strange faces in the crowd. "You must be his diving family..." Yup. When he asked how many students were in the crowd, about %20 of us held up our hands. On the way there, I listened to one my my favorite Kris Kristofferson songs: Kiss the World Goodbye. I kind of rewrote it on the way home...

Don't have no regrets Son,
Not for the diving I've done.
Cared for all of my students,
Each and every one.
I don't even regret the caving,
That I'll be leaving behind.
I've gotten weary of fighting,
This thing that's beating me now.

I'm going down to the water, to dive the springs one more time,
To feel the water on my face before I go!
I'm going to leave all my passion
To my friends in the water.
And lay me down
to kiss the world goodbye.

​

 

[The Chairman]

As a caveat...

Too often we never hear accounts of deaths. It would seem that some are afraid to let us know what happened because they don't believe we can handle the truth. This was a refreshing change. Reggie had been sick for a while. I kinda heard he was sick, but I didn't know it was a stage 4 cancer of some kind. The day before Christmas found him doing what he loved: teaching and guiding. He had led a few divers on a "Discover Caving" dive, had doffed his gear and simply said "I don't feel good". He went quickly and with no apparent pain.

So many think that our interest in diving deaths is macabre, when it's not. We hear about our legends and friends dying while diving and it scares us. We want to know what happened, perchance to avoid it and survive. I pointed this out to many in hopes that they understand it's not mere voyeurism, but a sincere desire to learn and not perish. Reggie was a consummate instructor. He spent much of his life teaching others how cheat death while diving. Letting us know what happened is what Reggie would have wanted, no matter the circumstances. It's definitely what I want when I go.

Also, it was good to see @Manatee Diver and @dewdropsonrosa at the service as well as many other friends and legends.

 

[Sheldon Stenquist]

Reggie brought me into the cave scene. I originally called CCDS ( which is my GO TO dive shop) in High Springs, Florida.... They recommended Reggie.. When I first met Reggie, like many other divers, he did not like my ancient tech rigging and other items of my gear. He told me to get my shopping list together and he got me totally set up the RIGHT way...
Reggie truly cared about my training and we became friends.He was - is in my mind one of the BEST and well rounded people I have met.

The last time I met Reggie it was the weekend before Thanksgiving.
He will always be missed

 

[Manatee Diver]

The last time I met Reggie it was the weekend before Thanksgiving.

We probably ran into each other, as I was his student that weekend.

 

[dewdropsonrosa]