June 21, 1941 — Oct. 8, 2024
Bronwen Colby Ross was born the eldest of five children in New York City to Adelaide Townsend and John Deforest Angell. She was always known as Wendy and her family had fun inserting her name in songs like “Windy” by the Association.
Wendy lived in Ashland since 2001 and was an Oregonian through and through. She spent her formative years in Neskowin and then Portland. She was student body president at Ainsworth Elementary. Later, she played the lead in “Gentlemen Prefer Blondes” her senior year at Lincoln High School in Portland. After graduating, she spent the summer in Holland with the Experiment in International Living.
She met her other half, Michael, through the Liberal Religious Youth program of Portland’s First Unitarian Church, where her mother was religious education director. She studied theater arts at the University of New Mexico before they got married.
Michael’s time as an officer in the U.S. Air Force and corporate jobs took the family all over the country. Wendy saw every move as a new adventure. Mike and Wendy were inseparable, always talking on the phone as a unit and splitting every meal at restaurants.
While raising their three children in New Jersey, her favorite job was managing a women’s clothing store called Lazy Daisy. She was known for accessorizing with statement necklaces and stylish hats. She loved putting together an outfit for a night out at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival or a service at Rogue Valley Unitarian Universalist Fellowship.
Wendy was a woman of few words, but could beat you in Scrabble any time. She always saved room for dessert. She never complained, even on particularly rainy days at Autzen Stadium. Wendy loved to dance and was still busting a move while living with dementia at Weatherly Court in Medford.
Carrying on her incomparable spirit is her devoted husband of 63 years, Michael, and her children: Blaine, Adam, and Julie (and their very patient spouses Laura, Sharon, and Brian!) Wendy’s surviving siblings Towny and Karen will keep the music going. Her six grandchildren will never forget her thoughtful cards and tight hugs. Her two great-granddaughters will surely inherit her love of life.
Thankfully, many family members were able to say goodbye and play her favorite songs before she passed. Hopefully Wendy is now partying on the other side with her parents, her siblings Gail and Demi, and her grandson Kiefer. Those wishing to make a memorial contribution may do so at RVUUF Endowment Trust to support the community that supported Wendy all these years.
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