Hundreds celebrated the life of Mike Ross, a longtime Benton Franklin Fair & Rodeo board member who died Nov. 4, during a ceremony Friday at the Benton County Fairgrounds in Kennewick.
Soft-playing country music filled Building 3 as friends, family and acquaintances took their seats. Some were grim, some chatted and many smiled. The crowd's mood reflected the man they were there to honor.
"The way (Ross) lived life was 'If I'm here, I'm going to have fun,' " said Cindy Prezler, who officiated the memorial service. "I love that. What a great motto."
Ross, 65, died Nov. 4 after his tractor hit a large cement pipe while he was mowing his 16-acre property in northern Franklin County. The tractor rolled on top of him.
Friday's ceremony focused little on his death and instead shed light on his life.
Near the end of the service, Prezler said part of her duty as a minister presiding over a memorial was to say a few words on behalf of the person being remembered.
"If I were going to speak for Mike," she said, "I'd say have fun; enjoy life."
Ross was remembered as a dedicated fair board member, a sports enthusiast, a family man and a prankster.
K.C. Bennion, Ross's daughter, spoke of her father's old "Dr. Pepper switch." When the family would eat out, her mother, Janis, would order cola and her dad would ask for Dr. Pepper, which her mother detested.
"Halfway through dinner, my Dad would find a way to switch those pops," Bennion told the audience.
Her mother's face would contort, her lips would purse and her father, laughing wildly, would usually be on the receiving end of a light jab or two.
"And you got to remember, this would happen two or three times a week," Bennion said to the chuckling crowd.
Scott Bennion, father of Shawn Bennion, K.C.'s husband, spoke of Ross' commitment to family.
"I think what I remember most is that we were immediately part of the family," he said. "We weren't 'Shawn's parents,' we were a part of the family."
He spoke of Ross' three loves: "He loved Janis, he loved his family and he loved the fair."
Like other speakers, Scott Bennion offered a parting rib to Ross's character. "I think (Janis and Mike) both believed they married above them. Mike was right. ... The jury's still out on Janis."
Janis Ross briefly spoke at the ceremony's end. She asked that people hold on to their spouses and loved ones, since she lost her husband of 43 years.
"As long as we have them, it's never enough," she said.
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