Colonel Ross Mayfield Jr.

Colonel Ross Freeman Mayfield, Jr., 82, passed away in Harborview Medical Center, Seattle, Washington on August 31, 2010 as a result of injuries sustained in a vehicle accident near Snoqualmie Pass, Wash. Funeral arrangements are private. Ross, a longtime resident of McCall, was born on April 22,1928, in Navasota, Texas. He moved with his family to Hayden, AZ., where he grew up and met his future wife, Etta Jean Eisenhart. In 1946, he enlisted in the U.S. Navy, where he served less than a week before receiving an appointment to the United States Military Academy at West Point, N.Y. He graduated in 1950 with a commission as a 2nd Lieutenant in the U.S. Army. He began his Army service in the Airborne Infantry and later transitioned into the Armored Branch, where he served the majority of his career. He married Etta Jean on Dec. 25, 1951. Over a 30 -year career, his military assignments included several tours in Germany, including an armored battalion command, a tour in Vietnam, and numerous duty stations in the U.S., including command of the U.S. Army's Electronic Warfare School in Ft. Huachuca, Ariz., and advisor to the Idaho National Guard in Boise. After retiring from the Army, Ross worked for 10 years with the State of Idaho's Emergency Operations Agency. He retired to McCall in 1990, where he and his family enjoyed many outdoors activities, including snowmobiling, skiing, biking, hiking, sailing, fishing and camping. Ross was an active member of the McCall community. He was a charter member of the Mill Harbor Yacht Club in McCall, sailing in many races with the Etta J. and the Cootash. He was an active member of the Payette Lakes Recreational Water and Sewer District board and served as a volunteer at the McCall Memorial Hospital and hospital auxiliary thrift store. Ross and Etta participated in many years of the McCall Winter Carnival parades, entertaining the crowds with their popular and very colorful Jeep-towed float, "Mayfield and Friends," and its accompanying costumed out-riders. Surviving Ross are his beloved wife, Etta Jean; his daughter, Susan Principe (Joe, husband) of Kent, Wash.; his son, Robert F. Mayfield of McCall; his son, Richard F. Mayfield (Vicki, wife) of Renton, Wash.; two grandchildren, Ross H. Principe and Chaney Rosti; and a younger brother, William T. Mayfield of Springfield, Va. Ross' zest for life was an example to his children and all those with whom he came in contact. He was a good Grandpa to "his best buddy"', Ross H. He loved a good joke, his active outdoor life, and most of all his beloved and cherished wife of 58 years. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that memorial contributions be made to the non-profit organization Missing Pet Partnerships at www.rnissingpetpartnership.org or your local Humane Society.