Keith C. Gross

GROSS, KEITH C. Keith C. Gross, 53, of Ledyard, beloved husband of Patricia (Flynn) Gross passed away unexpectedly, Friday, November 5, 2010 at home. Born in Hartford, Connecticut he was the son of Edward "Ted" Gross Jr. and Joyce (Lanz) Gross of Madison and resided in Ledyard since 1992. Keith grew up in Simsbury and Madison, Connecticut. He graduated from Daniel Hand High School in 1975 where he was an outstanding athlete and student. Dr. Keith Gross was a professor and section chief of the electrical and computer engineering department at the Coast Guard Academy. He received his B.S. in Mathematics with High Honors from the U.S. Coast Guard Academy in 1979. He received M.S. degrees in both Electrical Engineering, and Operations Research and Statistics, and his Ph.D. in Decision Sciences and Engineering Systems from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. While on active duty, he served aboard USCGC Citrus (WMEC 300) as Operations Officer from 1979-1981, Commanding Officer aboard USCGC Point Highland (WPB-82333) from 1981 until 1983 and as an instructor in the USCGA Mathematics Department from 1984 until 1988. In 1988 he left active duty, joined the CG Reserve and joined the civilian workforce. He worked for TRW, focusing primarily in the signal-processing field, from 1988-1989. From 1989-1994, he served as an Assistant Professor of Electrical Engineering at USCGA. From 1994-1998, he worked at the Naval Undersea Warfare Center, where he served as the ELF and Communications Engineering Branch Head. From 1998-2000, he worked at the CG Research and Development Center where he served as Decision Support Program Area Manager. For the 1999-2000 academic-year, CDR Gross' reserve assignment was teaching Electrical Engineering at USCGA. In 2002, CAPT Gross retired from the CG Reserve. In 2000, Dr. Gross returned to the USCGA faculty on a full time basis. In July 2004, Dr. Gross assumed the duties as Electrical and Computer Engineering Section Chief. During his time at USCGA, Dr. Gross has also served as an assistant football coach and one of the greatest joys of his teaching career was being the class advisor to the Academy class of 1993. Keith often said the only job he ever wanted was teaching cadets, he was fortunate to achieve that dream. Being a teacher was not what Keith did, it is who he was. Besides his wife and parents, he leaves his three siblings, Stephen Gross of Branford, Edward "Skip" Gross III and his wife, Martha, of Madison and Robin Ragusa of Trumbull; nieces and nephews, Alicia and Nicholas Gross, Michael and Mark Ragusa and Keith and Erin Simmons; his in-laws, Henry and Elizabeth Flynn of Uncasville; and two sisters-in-law, Mary Flynn of Gales Ferry and Katherine Simmons and her husband, David, of Jamestown, RI. A celebration of Keith's life will be held Friday, November 12th at 10:30 at the Coast Guard Academy Memorial Chapel, 15 Mohegan Ave., New London. Burial will be at Arlington Cemetery at a yet to be determined date. The family will receive friends Thursday, November 11th from 5-9 pm at the Mystic Funeral Home Route 1 Mystic (51 Williams Ave.) In lieu of flowers donations may be made to the Electrical Engineering Fund at the Coast Guard Foundation, 394 Taugwonk Road, Stonington, CT 06378 or www.coastguardfoundation.org Please visit www.mysticfuneralhome.com to sign an online message of condolence to the family and directions to the funeral home.