Kenneth Bruce Ross was an inventor and businessman who is best known for the development of an automated manufacturing process for the reliable production of quartz crystals used in radios.

Life History

Kenneth Ross was born in Oklahoma

Oklahoma

Oklahoma is a state located in the South Central region of the United States of America. With an estimated 3,751,351 residents as of the 2010 census and a land area of 68,667 square miles , Oklahoma is the 28th most populous and 20th-largest state...

, but spent most of his childhood living with his uncle in Colorado

Colorado

Colorado is a U.S. state that encompasses much of the Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains...

. He lied about his age to join the US Army. His first posting was in Williams, Arizona

Williams, Arizona

Williams is a city in Coconino County, Arizona, United States west of Flagstaff. Its population was 2,842 at the 2000 census; according to 2006 Census Bureau estimates, the population of the city is 3,094. It lies on the route of Historic Route 66, Interstate 40, and the Southwest Chief Amtrak...

. As part of his Army service, he fought against Pancho Villa

Pancho Villa

José Doroteo Arango Arámbula – better known by his pseudonym Francisco Villa or its hypocorism Pancho Villa – was one of the most prominent Mexican Revolutionary generals....

. During his time in the Army, Ross was fortunate enough to work with the Marconi

Marconi Company

The Marconi Company Ltd. was founded by Guglielmo Marconi in 1897 as The Wireless Telegraph & Signal Company...

 radios utilized by the Signal Corps.

Shortly after the completion of his military service, Ross moved to Chicago

Chicago

Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...

 where he founded the Ross Manufacturing Company. Its primary product was the production and installation of radio components and systems. Customers included such notables as the P.K. Wrigley family. While installing a custom made radio system in their Chicago home, he met his future wife Gudrun Saetveit, a concert pianist providing instruction to the Wrigley children.

Kenneth Ross was an aviation enthusiast, who counted Charles Lindbergh

Charles Lindbergh

Charles Augustus Lindbergh was an American aviator, author, inventor, explorer, and social activist.Lindbergh, a 25-year-old U.S...

 as one of his friends. Ross owned several airplanes throughout his life. He was killed on July 12, 1959 in Durango, Colorado

Durango, Colorado

The City of Durango is a Home Rule Municipality that is the county seat and the most populous city of La Plata County, Colorado, United States. The United States Census Bureau said that the city population was 16,887 in 2010 census.-History:...

 after the airplane he was piloting crashed shortly after takeoff.

Business

The Ross Manufacturing Company employed approximately 500 people. In order to satisfy the communications demands of Allied Forces during World War II, Ross converted one of his plants in Chicago to a facility for making FT-243 crystal units. Ross developed a process to automatically and accurately tune the FT-243 quartz crystals in a shorter time while using far less labor. Prior to the development of his process, all crystals had to be polished by hand in order to ensure proper tuning. As a result, his factory was able to produce more high quality radio crystals faster than most other companies in the US. Ross never patented the process. It was shared freely with other radio crystal manufacturers as he deemed it his patriotic duty. Ross produced a short technical film detailing each step in the process, making it possible for others to easily copy it. His production method had a direct impact on the improved reliability of radio communications in both European and Asian theaters of war.