Sallie Ross Rich

Sallie Ross Rich, age 95, a resident of Shell Point Village Fort Myers, Florida died on April 13, 2024. She was born on March 21, 1929 to John and Sallie Ross in Ironton, Ohio.

Sallie grew up in Washington D.C. and Charlottesville, Virginia where she attended Lane High School. Sallie attended William and Mary University where she received the Tiberius Gracchus Jones Award for creativity and swam on the swim team. Sallie also attended the Juilliard School for performing arts and the Himalayan Institute of Yoga Science and Philosophy.

Sallie married Beverly Cook Rich on June 6,1956 and was married to him for 42 years until his death in 1998.

Sallie pursued her lifelong love of music as a member of the choir at the Episcopal Church of the Redeemer in Baltimore, Maryland and of the Chorus at the Peabody Institute of The Johns Hopkins University Conservatory of Music.

Sallie taught and practiced Yoga for over sixty years to which she credited her creative, long, and productive life. She also volunteered at the Garden of the Senses for Blind Children and welcomed into her home foster children and international students.

Sallie moved from Ruxton, Maryland to Captiva Island, Florida in 1988. On Captiva, Sallie focused her lifelong interest in photography and nature on the islands she loved. Her photography culminated with her 2019 book The Courtship of Great Blue Herons. In 2020 Sallie was honored to receive The Brush of Excellence Environmental Art Award from the Sanibel-Captiva Conservation Foundation “for bringing the beauty of Southwest Florida to the people of Southwest Florida.” In 2023 Sallie was honored to be recognized as a Legacy Artist of Shell Point by the Tribby Arts Center for her creative work and exemplary service to the artistic community.

Sallie is survived by her three children Hunter Ross Rich (Suzanne), “Tia” Sallie Lucretia Rich (Adam), and John Beverly Rich (Ruth) and five grandchildren Hunter Ross Rich Jr., Austin Patrick Rich, Wyatt Warwick Rich, Jack Beverly Rich, and Will Francis Rich.

A memorial service to honor and celebrate Sallie’s life will be held at the Shell Point Village Church Chapel, 15100 Shell Point Blvd Fort Myers, Florida, on April 20, 2024 at 11:00 AM. The service will also be live streamed at https://vimeo.com/event/4224306.

In lieu of flowers, the family kindly requests that memorial contributions be made to:

“Ding” Darling Wildlife Society, P.O. Box 565, Sanibel, FL 33957, dingdarlingsociety.org or Sanibel-Captiva Conservation Foundation, PO Box 839, Sanibel, FL 33957-0839, SCCF.org

Sallie will be deeply missed by her family, friends, and all who knew her. She will be remembered for her kind heart, friendship, love of nature, and passion for everything she did in life–especially being Mom to her three children and Grandmom to her five grandsons.