Joseph Edward Ross

Joseph Edward Ross, age 91, passed away January 3, 2026, at Banner Thunderbird Hospital in Glendale, Arizona after suffering severe injuries that resulted from a fall in his home in Sun City West.

He was born April 12, 1934, in Girard, Kansas, a son of the late Joseph A and Lue Gean Ross.

Joe grew up on a farm in Weld County, Colorado just to the north of Greeley. He attended Greeley High School and graduated in 1952. Joe started working as a carpenter before graduating from high school. In 1954, he met and married Dorothy Arndt.

He started his own company in 1970 and established several partnerships over the years, going from Ross Construction to Ross & Rector Construction, and to A&R Construction. A&R Construction closed its doors in 1994, and Joe retired at the age of 50.

Joe Ross was recognized as a Colorado Construction Pioneer in 1994 by the Colorado Contractors Association for his leadership, dedication of service and contributions to the Heavy/Highway Construction Industry.

Joe stayed involved with Colorado construction by serving on the Colorado Statewide Joint Apprenticeship Educational and Training Committee until 2006 when he was awarded their Lifetime Achievement Award.

Joe and Dorothy spent retirement traveling in his Chevy Pickup with a tiny pop-up camper throughout the lower 48 United States, Canada and Alaska. They spent 3 weeks touring the outback in Australia utilizing a rented camper, they visited New Zealand as part of that trip and made numerous trips that did not involve the camper and truck to take in all the major islands of Hawaii. Joe and Dorothy were married for 51 years until she passed away in 2006.

Joe met Jill Svee on a blind date in 2017. The Chevy Pickup story continued into this relationship when Joe at age 85 took Jill on a two-month 4,000-mile trip from Arizona to Alaska and back, this time pulling a 27-foot travel trailer. Joe went through 4 tires; he had to pull Jill out of a ditch, and after that great adventure they still liked and loved each other. They laughed about the pitfalls and calamities and came back to Arizona to move into their new home, and after all that they married in 2020, during the Covid Pandemic.

In retirement Joe focused his time on perfecting his skills as an Intarsia craftsman and sold his art worldwide as well as in numerous arts and crafts shows. Intarsia is a woodworking technique that uses various shapes, sizes, and wood species to create a mosaic like picture where the color differentiation is accomplished by the natural texture and color of the different wood species. (IntersiaByJoe)

In addition to his parents, he was preceded in death by his first wife, Dorothy, his life partner for nine years Ardyce Geyer 2007-2016, and his brother Otis.

He is survived by his children, Ken, LuJean and Patti Dahlberg, daughter-in-law Verlene Ross and son-in-law Paul Dahlberg; his grandchildren BriAnne Turpin and her husband Jeff, Joseph Benjamin and his wife Adrienne, and Skyler Ross; and his great grandchildren Mya Ross, Payten Turpin, Keegan Turpin and Logan Ross. He is also survived by his second wife, Jill Svee, who along with many other family and friends who will sadly miss him.

A memorial service celebrating Joe's exceptional life will be held on March 8, at 1:00 PM at Lord of Life Lutheran Church, 13724 W Meeker Blvd, Sun City West. We invite all who knew and loved Joe to join us in honoring his memory.

In lieu of flowers, we encourage you to honor Joe's legacy of building and creating by seeking out new skills, spending time exploring the world, and sharing the insights gained with others.

This, we believe, would be the best tribute to his extraordinary life.