FCT has lost another of its founders and a driving force for many years. Lois Ross left us Wednesday May 7th after several years of declining health and energy.  She gave so much to our theatrical company that we have enjoyed for the past thirty-six years, not the least of which are daughters Gail and Holly and son Brian who have all been on-stage from the beginning, and husband, Bud - whose engineering and mechanical talents she steered toward FCT. Lois has organized successful galas with her taste for formality, arranging for dinners in private homes. And her home in Greenwich has hosted many FCT picnics, the first one even before the first show hit the stage! Many of the impressive group of Founding Members listed in our programs are friends that Lois brought in for their support.

She claimed to have played every role except stage manager, technician and box office manager, and to have attended every FCT show. All along, she has been a wonderful mentor to actors, young and old. Among her performing roles that come to mind were Vera Chapman in Incident at San Bajo for which she won Best Supporting Actress at the Northern Virginia Theater Alliance's One-act play festival in 1992, Lady Agatha Mortimer in The Hound of the Baskervilles in 1997 and, most recently a stylish Mrs. Higgins in 2003's My Fair Lady.

In 1993, having proposed the show to other FCT directors every year of the past ten, she gave up and directed Pump Boys and Dinettes herself - a country/gospel/blues styled musical set in a roadside filling station, with daughters Gail and Holly as sassy, flirtin' waitresses, slinging hash and musical opinions in the diner.  Described as a real challenge, Lois "had to put up with tantrums, tearfulness and stubbornness for what seemed an eternity!"  But Pump Boys... was a delightful, fun-filled success and deserves to be encored.

Lois Ross was an elegant lady of steel who put so much of herself in our theatre.  In her honor, the lights were dimmed at last weekend's performances of Little Women.

On dates to be determined, a private family service will be held at "the Lawn" followed by a celebration of her life to which all of her friends (theater and otherwise) will be invited. It is Lois' wish that contributions be made in her memory to FCT and be sent to FCT, PO Box 3046, Warrenton, VA 20188.