Obituary of H. Ross Glover

Dansville- Harold Ross Glover, of Van Campen Street in Dansville, NY, and North Port, FL., died at age 91 on February 26, 2016 at the Venice Regional Hospital, Venice, FL. Ross was born December 2, 1924, at home in Canaseraga, NY to Albert Ross and Daphne Gelser Glover. He was the fourth generation of Glovers to reside in the Town of Burns, with his great grandfather William Glover arriving there from Hull, England in 1851. On December 31, 1945, he was married at the home of Rev. Robert McKee in Dansville to Corinne Burger, the daughter of Carl and Adelia Bentley Burger of South Dansville. At their 60th Wedding Anniversary party in Dansville on December 26, 2005, Mr. Glover noted that his wife wrote him a letter every day for two years while he served overseas during World War II. Corinne died on September 11, 2006. On April 2, 2011, he was married to Alice Eckman at the Trinity Methodist Church in North Port. She is the daughter of Uno and Aili Anas Eckman of East Greenbush. They migrated from Finland. Predeceasing Ross in addition to his wife Corinne and his parents, were his brother Ronald, and his sisters Onnolee Paine, Dorothy Baker, Leola Chasey, and Audrey McColl. Ross grew up in Canaseraga and graduated from Canaseraga Central School in 2007----64 years after his class, as he left school to join the Army during WWII. He graduated with the Class of 2007 through the “Operation Recognition” program. Ross was drafted into the Army in October 1943 and was honorably discharged in October 1945. He served during WWII for two years, most of it on the front lines. He has three Purple Hearts and a Bronze Star. Ross made two beach invasions from North Africa onto Italy (they were Salerno and Anzio—which were the first European invasions and preceded Normandy). He crossed the Rhine into enemy fire into France and made it all the way to Hitler’s bunker outside of Berlin. He was a member of the Fighting 36th Infantry Division, a unit that set the record for the most consecutive days on the front lines---133 days of combat no matter the weather or terrain. On his first beach invasion his boat was shot out from under him and he was thrown into the water with a 100-pound machine gun strapped to his back. He couldn’t swim. But he found a way. He was shot up and hospitalized three times---once caught behind the enemy lines, bleeding in a ditch with the Germans just a few yards away, he survived because Italian women hid him under straw during the day and wrapped wet blankets over his wounds at night until he was rescued. One winter he got frostbite in both feet so bad that they were ready to amputate them. He was saved when an experimental drug reached the front lines: penicillin. Then, and each time he was wounded, he was patched up and returned to the front. There was no stopping the 136th Infantry and Sergeant Glover in the fight for freedom. After the war he worked various jobs, including as a bus driver for the Dansville schools. He got training as a front-end alignment specialist and was considered one of the best for miles around. He worked for many years for Shay’s Service/Main Tire Exchange in Dansville up until his retirement. Surviving in addition to his wife of five years, are two sons; Robert and his wife Shelly of Sleepy Hollow and Canisteo, Donald Glover and his fiancée Donna Fischer of Orchard Park. Five grandsons, Mark Glover of Corning, Matt Glover of Macedon, Dan Glover of Buffalo, Michael Glover of Buffalo, and Chris Glover of New York City. A sister Georgianna (Harry) Scheithauer of North Port, FL. Three step-sons: Mark Veltman of Schenectady, Scott Veltman of Albany, and Brett Veltman of Colorado Springs. Five step-daughters: Ingrid Bruck of Pequa, PA, Dana Testo of Ballston Spa, Leslie Keithline of Larkspur, Co, Lynn-Erin Chesser of Sherwood Park, and Cory Veltman of Sebastopol, CA. Friends will be received on Sunday from 1-4 pm at the Hindle Funeral Home, 271 Main Street, Dansville. A funeral service will be held Monday at 11:00 AM in the Dansville United Methodist Church, 5 Chestnut Avenue, with the Rev. Manilla Owen officiating. Interment will be in the Rogersville Forest Lawn Cemetery, South Dansville, where five generations of the Burgers are interned. Contributions may be made to a memorial for Ross Glover at the American Legion, and for the renovation of the Post where he was a member for seventy years. He held many positions with the Legion at the Post, county, regional and state level, including Commander of the Post. He was instrumental with the American Legion Baseball program, Boy’s State, the White Sabers Drum and Bugle Corps and more. Checks can be sent to Daniel Goho Post 87 of The American Legion, PO Box 306, Dansville, New York 14437. Note that the contribution is in honor of H. Ross Glover.