Ross Joseph Pritchard

1924 - 2020

Ross J. Pritchard, age 95, of Fayetteville Arkansas, died at the Circle of Life Hospice in Springdale, Arkansas on July 8, 2020. He was born on September 3, 1924, in Paterson, New Jersey. His wife, Louise Dean and his sons Michael Gregg Pritchard and Russell Calhoun Gregg, preceded him in death. He is survived by; his brother Edward Pritchard and his wife Pat of Dothan Alabama; his daughters, Irene Pritchard and her husband Thomas Brown of Fayetteville, Arkansas, Fereshteh Richard of Fayetteville, Arkansas; and his sons Vol Pritchard, Mehran Pritchard of Fayetteville Arkansas and Ross Pritchard Jr. and his wife Becky of Wellsville Kansas. His grandchildren Emily and Letty Pritchard-Brown, Matt and Jennifer Pritchard, Persia Phelps, Lafayette Richard, Irene M. Pritchard, and Cora Rich and seven great-grandchildren also survive him.

Ross was a WWII Navy Veteran. He received both undergraduate and graduate degrees from the University of Arkansas and lettered in Football and Track. He also received graduate and doctorial degrees from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy.

Ross started his academic career at Rhodes College in Memphis, Tennessee where he established their Department of International Studies. During the sixties, Ross served in successive positions as the Peace Corps Representative in Turkey and as their Regional Director of the Far East. Upon his return to the States in the early seventies, Ross resumed his academic career as the President of Hood College in Frederick, Maryland. Through the eighties, Ross continued his leadership role in academia with successive tenures as the President of Arkansas State University and the Chancellor of Denver University. Looking back on his full, varied and eventful life Ross would muse that he might have been equally contented being a fishing guide on the White River.

Memorial Services will be scheduled for a future post-COVID-19 date. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests that memorial gifts be sent to the Circle of Life Hospice, 901 Jones Road, Springdale, Arkansas 72767.

Arrangements are under the direction of Moore's Chapel in Fayetteville.

To leave an online tribute, visit www.mooresfuneralchapel.com.