Ross Lawrence Loyd

Ross Lawrence Loyd-Crawford was born on January 20, 1974 in Brooklyn, New York to Gladys Loyd and Theodore James Crawford. As the youngest of seven children, he was a very inquisitive and precocious child. "Da-wauchee", as he was called, played many practical jokes on his brothers and sisters without fear of retaliation.  He would taunt them or stir up commotion, then run and hide behind his parents who would not allow him to be reprimanded by his older siblings.

Ross attended Public School 45 on Schaeffer Street in Brooklyn and graduated in June 1986.  Following graduation, he relocated to Detroit, Michigan where he resided until 1992.  He completed his intermediate and high school education during his six year-stay there, and returned to New York as a young adult to resume his life with family and childhood friends.

Ross pursued and excelled in his occupation as a carpenter.  He enjoyed projects such as home repair and remediation, new construction startups, interior paint jobs, and landscaping.  He often contracted multiple jobs concurrently which required him to travel between New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and other states within a staggered work schedule.  Although he enjoyed working as a carpenter, his real passion, similar to that of his parents and siblings, was in the culinary space.  In between construction and carpentry work, he spent time learning the art of food preparation, the various methods of cooking, baking, grilling, etc., and the importance of finishing touches for presentation.  After a few years of practice, Ross could burn in the kitchen!  He was often called upon to take the role as lead chef for many family gatherings.  On occasion, he was hired by locals in the community to cater for parties and other formal events.  His Caribbean cuisine such as jerk chicken, oxtails, escovitch fish, and all the sides were some of his signature dishes.  Ross was also a self-taught barber and hairstylist.  His services for men included savvy hair-cuts, trimmed and groomed facial hair, while the scope of services for women focused on perms, cuts and trendy hairstyles.

One of the most inspiring memories of Ross was his ability to make the people around him laugh.  He was quite the comedian, often bringing everyone to tears and gut-wrenching laughter in response to his impromptu dress-up and impersonation routines.  Ross also had the endearing quality of giving nicknames to his children, other relatives and friends, such as "Cov", "Zboo", "Pooka" and "Sparks" (the name he called his brother Ted).  And yes, similar to his childhood behavior, he continued with the taunting and practical jokes!

The most celebrated moments of Ross's life were the births of his three sons: Tafari ("Cov") born February 16, 1999, Zion ("Zboo") born December 23, 2004, and DaVee ("Pooka") born October 19, 2007.  The journey of fatherhood had a tremendous impact on him.  He loved his sons deeply, and they became the motivating force behind everything he accomplished and sought to achieve.  Although his ongoing battle with diabetes intensified in recent years, Ross settled into a space of personal joy and fulfillment as a result of the love and security he found in the relationship with his beloved Keema. They shared many fond moments, laughed together, and provided support for each other.  She worked tirelessly and took excellent care of him.  Ross also savored each and every moment of quality time he spent with his sons.                                           

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