Mr Ross (Wally) was my first form teacher at Sturgess and Choir Master, he had a wicked sence of humour and a knowledge of music second to none.

Wish I had looked him up before his accident

I was very sad to hear of the passing of Wallace Ross.

I have some very happy memories of being a member of St Alkmund’s Church Choir in the 60s and 70s when we used to meet Wallace and the Cathedral songmen in the Dolphin after choir practice on Friday evenings and after Evening Service on Sunday.

We talked about many things over a pint or two of beer; not just church and music but railways in particular especially steam. As one contributor has already mentioned, he had a particular interest in Irish railways which was also an interest of mine.

Among other things, he told us about his time as Organ Scholar at Balliol College Oxford where he was a colleague of Edward Heath who later became Prime Minister.

I don’t think that Wallace’s contribution to church music in Derby has ever been properly appreciated.

It may be of interest to know that Douglas Hitchings who was our Choirmaster at St Alkmund’s died on the same day as Wallace.

Wallace Ross was much respected and admired as a human being. I am proud to have known him as a friend, neighbour and teacher to my son who attended Sturgess school in the 60's. Wallace Ross demonstrated great kindness and generousity in donating essential supplies to the Caribbean island of Dominica, where I was born, following a hurricane which devastated the island in 1979. He continued to take an ongoing interest in the peoples' welfare who expressed their gratitude for his contribution.
He will be sadly missed and never forgotten by my family, myself and the people of The Commonwealth of Dominica.
Charles Hill J.P.

I served with Wallace Ross on the Staff at Sturgess School as a PE Master and took Wallace with his canoe (which he called "Galteamore" named after a steam train in Ireland ) down the River Wye on one of the many trips I oranized down the Wye Valley in the 50s and 60s. He was a enthusiastic canoeist, although rather corpulant at the time, and ran aground quite often. He capsised many times, but always fell into the water in such a way that his pipe remained alight causing much amusement to the party. Sadly at Ross on Wye some 4 days into the 7day trip he had to retire and was admitted to hospital suffering with sunburn and siatica.. A really lovable character who will be sadly mised.

Mr Ross aka Wally to his pupils was probably the most inspirational of all the teachers i have been taught by. To be introduced to classical music and latin quotations at the age of 11 and coming from a working class background was a bit of a culture shock to me but it is not until you reach maturity that you realise how much you owe to individuals and characters like Wallace. I have many memories of Sturgess school days and the teachers and pupils at the time and most of them are good memories but i will never forget the time Wallace told me off for scoring a perfectly legitimate try in a rugby match because i had kicked the (pill) as he called it twice and then downed the ball to score, i felt triumphant but then Wallace boomed the words YOUR NOT PLAYING SOCCER BOY. Rest in peace Mr Ross.
Clive Winfield.

"What a loss is Wallace Ross"

I left Sturgess in 1961 and one of the teachers that will always stay with me is Wallace.
A brilliant music teacher. I remember the sunny days when he would bring instruments in to school and we would all sit outside on the grass playing them , or rather trying to play them. He was the most unlikley person to take rugby lessons , i can still hear him shouting "HOT POTATOES" trying to get you to pass the ball.
Good memories

I first met Wallace in 1958 as an 11 year old. He was my form teacher for my first year at Sturgess. I got on with him well, being blessed (in those days) with a good voice and enjoying singing, I was soon in the school choir. Also, being well built, he put me at prop forward position in one of the rugby teams. "That's where we need the weight" he used to say, with a twinkle in his eye. The highlight of the choir's year, for me, was the Christmas carol service at the cathedral. Wallace, or "Hotspur" as we called him, was of course in his element on the organ. The sound was incredible, when we got to the verse in "Unto us a boy is born" where we sang Alpha and Omega he, let the organ thunder. Wallace had all the stops out, it certainly did thunder, and we had to sing with great gusto to be heard. He used to look across to the choir with a wicked grin at that point. It seems many years since we last shared a pint in the Dolphin. A great influence in my early life. Happy memories. Geoff. Collins

Mr Ross was my form teacher during my time at Stugess,Brilliant musician and teacher.
It couldn't of been an easy job trying to get grotty teenage boys to apreciate classical and choral music,especially when we had Slade,T REX,Bowie etc going round in our heads,But he never gave up.He had a wicked sense of humour,He would take us for Rugby practice and cross country runs on Markeaton Park and if you came off the field clean he would say that you werent trying hard enough,then make sure that you ended up dirty by telling your class mates how clean your kit looked.
I remember he gave everyone nicknames,mine was Wee Broon,because I was one of the smaller members of the class and there was more than one Brown in the school.
Thank you for making my senior school years so enjoyable.
Rest in Peace Sir.
Dave Brown (Form R1 1971 to 1975)

I remember Mr Ross really well. A great teacher and disciplinarian, i remember receiving the slipper many times for my wrong doings, it had a small hole in the sole and when he brought it down on your back side it would whistle as the air passed through, Mr Ross used to call the slipper Sam. He was very ecentric and during morning assembly he would sit on the stage and make hand movements like he was pulling the whistle cord on a steam train and then you could hear him whistle, very funny to us young lads. He was also our Rugby teacher and woe betide anyone that messed around. He had nicknames for all his pupils. What a great character i thought he had died years ago i remember him with great affection R I P Wally Ross
Mark Derby