Butch Ross Field at Tony Dorsett Stadium

Born in Aliquippa, PA on February 8, 1937, Richard A. "Butch" Ross was the son of the late John R. "Doc" Ross and Margaret (Marlow) Ross.  He was a member of Saint Titus Roman Catholic Church in Aliquippa.

Coach Butch Ross was educated in the Aliquippa School District, where he went on to earn eight varsity letters in three sports, gaining most of his recognition in football where he was an all conference linemen under the late Carl Aschman. He was awarded a football scholarship to California State University of Pennsylvania, Butch attended here for one year before transferring back home to attend Geneva College where he would star earning three varsity letters for the Golden Tornadoes.

After graduating from Geneva College in 1960 with a degree in education, Butch set forth on a remarkable career that would span over 40 years as a social studies and drivers education teacher in the Hopewell School District. That would also be the year that Butch went back to his first love, coaching football. "Coach Ross" as everyone affectionately knew him, served as an assistant coach at Hopewell until 1969 when he was then named a head coach of the Vikings. During the next nine years his teams would win two conference championships during the 1971 and 1972 seasons, and be rated as two of the best high school teams ever to come out of Beaver County, earning 18 wins while only losing 2 games over that period. He was named conference coach of the year twice during that period.

In 1978, Butch went on to coach at Center High School, then onto his alma mater Geneva College where he served as an assistant coach for four years under head coach Gene Sullivan. In the later stages of his career, he returned as an assistant coach to Hopewell from 1990 - 1995, helping the Vikings reach the WPIAL championship game that first year while he was back. One of his most proud moments in coaching came in 1994, when he was inducted into the Beaver County Hall of Fame, along with former players of his at Hopewell during their "Glory Years", Dan Rains, and Tony Dorsett. Officially retiring from coaching in 1995, Butch stayed active in the sport by helping many college football teams with recruiting and securing of student/athlete scholarships for children from all around the Beaver County area.

Having a coaching career that spanned over four decades, Coach Ross had six of his players play professional football. Over two dozen achieved All American status during their playing careers, 85% of his student / athletes he coached received athletic/scholastic scholarships, and 90% of those student / athletes would achieve college degrees. 

He always said that, "wins and loses count when measuring the success of a coach, but what matters to me most is touching peoples lives - teaching, and helping watch my players and students grow and excel in the classroom, and in life. That is the accomplishment I am most proud of that these students become outstanding people and leaders in our society."

By far, Butch's greatest moment was as a loving and devoted husband and father to his family.  Married 44 years to his wife Shirley, they are the proud parents of their children; son Mark and daughter Kelly.  He was also a devoted father-in-law to Mark's wife Susan and Kelly's husband Brian and grandfather to 3 grandchildren Timothy and Megan McCormack of Keller, TX and Cody Ross of Aliquippa who he cherished dearly.

Many will remember their Saturday visits to Ross Sports, in Aliquippa, and the genuine interest Butch took in knowing about them and their families. Many will also miss his stories and seeing the proud glow in his face watching his grandson Cody.

Although he did not have the physical bounce of his days past, the love of relationships within his family and with friends were expressed through all the physical distractions.  In the days following his passing, there were many articles written about his life and many personal tributes.  He had many friends and made countless acquaintances over his life.  All who ever met Butch would say one of his legacies was that of creating godly relationships with people.

l, Butch went to California State (PA) before transferring to Geneva College, where he starred on the gridiron. He began his coaching and teaching career at Hopewell in 1961 and in 1969 was named head coach of the Vikings, where he stayed for nine years. In 1987, he joined the Center High School staff as an assistant for six years, and then went back to Geneva College for a four year stint and lured many of the local products to play for the Golden Tornados. In 1990, Butch returned to the Hopewell sidelines as an assistant, where he continued to touch the lives of young people. During his career, Butch coached eight All WPIAL players, six All State, and two All Americans. More importantly, he helped players from all over the valley obtain college scholarships.