Richard Ross, the former president of mixer manufacturer Charles Ross & Son, died Sept. 14, the company announced.
Born in 1937, he became president in 1961, a member of the fourth generation of Ross family leadership since the company was founded in 1842, according to a history on the Ross website.
During his tenure, he expanded the company’s footprint beyond its Hauppauge, N.Y., home base to Georgia, Florida and internationally, including to China and India.
In 1999, he established the company’s Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP), which not only empowered employees as stakeholders but laid the foundation for the company's continued growth.
He had a passion for animals and travel, and a deep love of the water, spending much of his leisure time fishing and boating.
