Ross Buckwalter

Ross McBride (Mac) Buckwalter passed away unexpectedly on December 23, 2020 in Salt Lake City, Utah. Ross was born January 22, 1939 in American Fork, Utah, to Edwin Ross Buckwalter and Detta Olivia McBride. Known as Mac in his youth, he participated in high school baseball, football, Boys State, student government, and played trumpet in a dance band.

Ross served a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Argentina from 1959-1961. He cherished his missionary service and it helped shape the rest of his life.  He attended Brigham Young University (BYU) on a General Motors scholarship, completing his BS in 1964 and MS in 1966, both in statistics. Ross taught classes in statistics at BYU and the University of Utah. On March 15, 1968 he was married to Dorothy Rose Anderson in the Salt Lake Temple. After living in the Panama Canal Zone, San Mateo, CA, and Holladay, UT, they settled in Sandy, UT where they raised their family and he resided for the past 43 years.  Ross worked for Hercules Aerospace from 1972-1988. He subsequently started Ross Buckwalter & Associates and worked as a consultant in statistical analysis and quality assurance. Ross loved applied statistics and worked with companies in the United States, Mexico, Canada and England until he retired in 2008.

Ross was a lifelong active member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He served in many callings throughout his life and cherished his church membership and temple attendance. Ross and Dorothy served a FamilySearch mission in Edinburgh, Scotland from 2008-2010, performing records preservation with the National Archives of Scotland. They also began the Young Single Adults program for the Edinburgh Stake where they established many dear friendships.  Ross loved his time in Scotland and talked about it almost daily. Since returning to Utah he has been engaged in temple service and in family history, teaching classes in his ward and stake and at the Riverton Utah Family History Center.

Ross enjoyed many hobbies. He loved to spend time with his family skiing, boating, and traveling. Together with Dorothy, he wrote books on the rescue of the 1856 handcart companies and on the history of the Buckwalter family dating from 1720. Ross was a lifelong learner and teacher. Ross loved life and lived independently doing the things that were important to him.

Ross also overcame adversity. In November 1965 Ross survived a terrible plane crash in Salt Lake City, suffering extensive burns and in 1991 he was treated for prostate cancer. Grateful that his life had been spared in both instances, he prioritized serving others and seeking to make the most of his time on this earth.

Ross will be greatly missed. He is preceded in death by his beloved wife, Dorothy (1945-2019), and sisters Barbara Buckwalter (1933-2007) and Kathleen VanWagoner (1934-2015). Ross is survived by his sister, Jolayne Walker, daughter Marielle (Taylor) and sons and daughters-in-law Matt and Kristen (Courtney, Robbie, Ryan), David and Erica (Olivia, Blake, Allison, Peter), Ryan and Mindi (Kamryn, Carson, Weston) and Mike and Camie (Peyton).

A funeral will be held Thursday, December 31, 2020 at 11:00 a.m. Due to Covid-19 restrictions, in-person attendance will be by invitation. Extended family and friends are invited to participate at https://lonehollow.org/funeral.html. A viewing will be held at the Anderson & Sons Funeral Home on Wednesday, December 30th from 6-8 p.m., located at 6141 W 11000 N Highland, Utah. To facilitate social distancing, please use the signup genius link to reserve a time on the obituary at andersonmortuary.com.  Interment will be at the American Fork Cemetery.

Friends and neighbors wishing to attend the funeral can participate via live stream:
https://lonehollow.org/funeral.html