Karen A. Byrd-Ross

Karen Alice Byrd-Ross passed away June 26th, 2024. Karen was born March 25th, 1950 to Alice Christina (Smith) Byrd and John Archer Byrd at Travis Air Force Base in Vallejo, California. She lived in England and several states in the US as a child due to being part of a military family. Karen went to high school and college in Texas where she majored in Computer Science. She then went to work at the Veterans Administration Hospital in Houston, Texas and in Orange, Texas.

She competed and sold her ceramics across southeast Texas for several years. Karen was an avid Star Trek fan, traveling to conventions each year. After her mother and father passed away, she and her husband, Robert, retired and moved to Dennison, Ohio to be near her sister, Carol. She made yearly visits to Tampa, Florida where she visited her sister, Bonnie, and her family. Karen loved making diamond art, but most importantly, she loved her cats and bingo.

Karen is predeceased by her husband, Robert Ross; her mother, Alice Christina Byrd; father, John Archer Byrd; brother, Jared Stewart; and niece, Cheryl McBride. She is survived by her sisters, Carol Zellhart and Bonnie Adams; sister-in-law, Mary Stewart; nieces, Deborah Kauffman, Vickie Partridge, and Lisa McDonald; nephews, Mark McConnell, David Zellhart, and Scott Zellhart; and many great-nieces and great-nephews, but most notably her great niece Jennifer Stevens, who has been by her side through her illness.

Father Jeff Coning will celebrate the funeral Mass at 11:00 a.m. on Friday, July 5th, 2024 at Immaculate Conception Church in Dennison. Interment will follow in St. Mary’s Cemetery near Dennison. Karen’s family will receive callers beginning with a time for her family to share their favorite memories of her at 10:00 a.m. and continuing until 10:45 a.m. on Friday at the R. K. Lindsey Funeral Home in Dennison. Those wishing to honor her memory by a charitable contribution are encouraged to do so to the Tuscarawas County Humane Society, 1432 Tall Timber Rd. N.E., New Philadelphia, OH  44663.