[br][br]Gerald Dwight ("Jerry") Ross, 84, passed away in Spokane on February 15, 2016. Jerry grew up in the Liberty Park neighborhood and was a Spokane resident for most of his life. The youngest son of Alma and Emmett M. Ross, he was born on November 5, 1931 and had four brothers and one sister, all of whom preceded him in death. He drove a Model T Ford in his teens and graduated from North Central High School. He married Diane Kay Parmeter on December 25, 1950 and together they had three sons: Mark, Stuart, and Scott. Jerry joined the Air Force in 1951 and served in Fairbanks, Alaska, where his growing family lived in a tiny trailer through the frigid weather. He returned to Spokane and joined the family business, Ross Transfer, which was founded by his father. After the business was sold, Jerry worked at various times as a truck driver, butcher, and operated a process service business and an auto repair shop. He and Diane divorced and he continued truck driving for Spokane Transfer, founded by his brothers Lester and Dale, before retiring in his seventies. Jerry fiercely defended his independence and believed in the idiom "live and let live". Dying in his own home was his final expression of these lifelong values. He will be interred at the Veterans Cemetery in Medical Lake. Jerry's family plans a memorial gathering in the coming weeks and his friends are invited to leave remembrances and contact information at www.JerryRossSpokane.weebly.com.