Born in an era when women were to be demure and retiring, Vivian Ross did not conform. She was fiercely independent, smart, politically active, and intrepid. She had refined tastes in art, dance, theater, and people.

Vivian was born in Highland Park, New Jersey, on Thursday September 22, 1927, a pictureperfect day, to David and Millie Michelson. One of two children, she grew up in a boisterous and loving extended family and treasured those connections until her death.

Whatever academic challenge she faced, she excelled. Graduating in 1945 from Highland Park high school, she was an honor student, editor of the high school newspaper and an excellent dancer. Academic success followed her to Syracuse University, where she studied Economics and graduated in 1949 with distinction as a Phi Beta Kappa. She later earned a Master's degree in Environmental Planning from Lehigh University in Bethlehem, PA.

In the early 1950s, she worked in midtown New York City as an editor for various publishing houses. With lifelong friends, she explored the riches of the city – dance, art, theater, and jazz. She frequented famed Greenwich Village coffee houses and witnessed poetry readings that now are described in freshmen English books.

She shared these exciting times with Leonard Ross, an aspiring Photo League photographer. New York City was their playground. On a snowy day one December, Vivian and Lenny had the inspiration to place holly wreaths around the necks of the New York City Public Library lions at 42nd Street. At the time, a silly prank - 65 years later the library's lions with their holiday wreaths are a New York tradition.

Vivian and Leonard married and soon moved to Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, where they raised their two children. Vivian Ross worked professionally in a variety of city and regional planning roles eventually retiring as Assistant Vice-President of Systems, Power, & Engineering for Pennsylvania Power & Light. She was a leader in community groups dedicated to women's safety and education, social justice, education and the environment.

Vivian was an eye witness to the development of modern dance in America. From her high school days seeing the Ballet Ruse to witnessing Lincoln Kirstein and George Balanchine forming the New York City Ballet Company, Vivian was always there. In recent years she was a member of the New York City Ballet's Serenade Society, and delighted in telling young managers stories about the early history of NYC Ballet.

Vivian and Lenny were inveterate travelers. They traveled to Russia decades before others did, to China well before Shanghai had skyscrapers, to the Arctic before climate change, and explored France extensively. In the 1970s, they drove around France stopping at small vineyards in Burgundy and Bordeaux, tasting wines straight from vats.

Vivian's love of learning never left her. She and Lenny traveled passionately to explore the archeology of past civilizations and experience modern life in more than 100 countries.

After the death of her husband of 58 years, Vivian lived the last years of her very active life in Flagstaff, Arizona. She is survived by her brother, Stanley, daughter Eve (Michael), her son Tracy (Leslie), and three grandchildren, Jay, Griffin (Jennifer), and Calder.

In lieu of flowers or gifts, Vivian cared deeply about two special causes, Earthjustice [http://earthjustice.org] and the Flagstaff Public Library Foundation [http://flagstaffpubliclibrary.org/about/foundation.html].