Dorothy Gross, a 40-year resident of Miami Lakes who raised two children in Loch Lomond with her husband, Dr. Edward F. Gross, died Oct. 31 of lung cancer in Lake Mary, Fla.
She was 85. Mrs. Gross, shown above in a photo circa 1987 that was shared by her family, was a flight attendant and world traveler before she married.
“She had an encyclopedic memory, was very engaging and loved to watch Turner Classic Movies,” her son Edward J. Gross, M.D. said.
Mrs. Gross was a Eucharistic Minister at Our Lady of the Lakes Catholic Church, where the late NFL Coach Don Shula also worshipped.
Their families were neighbors and became good friends; the late Dorothy
Shula, the coach’s wife, taught Sunday School lessons to the Gross children.
Mrs. Gross was an avid golfer at what became the Senator Course at Shula’s Golf Club.
She had a 10-14 handicap and won many crystal tournament trophies shaped like footballs, her son said.
The Gross home was a logical stop for golfers who paused their rounds to visit with her.
“She was very popular,” her son said.
Her late husband was a physician who practiced from an office in the Lake Patricia Shopping Center.
He co-founded and was a chairman of Palmetto General Hospital in Hialeah before his death in 1992 at age 63.
Survivors include daughter Andrea Leighton of Jupiter, Fla., son Edward and his wife, Tiffany Gross of Lake Mary and six grandchildren.