In the summer of 1975, Alex Scassa Sr., Joe Tronzo, and a few others convened to form the Beaver County Sports Hall of Fame. Their first order of business was to form an executive committee of people interested and knowledgeable about sports in our area. Bill Ross was a natural choice for his inclusion on the original committee, given his vast background as an athletic director that spanned three decades.

A 1938 graduate of Beaver Falls High School, Bill attended Davis & Elkins College for three years. He left school in 1942 to enter the Air Force, where he flew 50 missions in Europe as a bomber pilot.

Upon completion of the war, Bill enrolled at Geneva, graduating in 1947. His first position was at Hopewell High, where he served as assistant football coach and baseball manager. Bill then returned to his beloved Beaver Falls in 1948 and had a powerful presence in athletics. He coached football (11 years) and baseball (six years), and also coached one year of golf and was assistant basketball coach for three seasons.

In 1956, Bill was named the head football coach at Beaver Falls. While his three-year record was just 9-16-3 in those seasons, he was responsible for talking a young man into not quitting the sport in 1958; that young man was Joe Namath, then a sophomore.

Bill assumed the duties of Athletic Director in 1959 and served in that capacity until his sudden death in 1976, when he was just 55 years old. But in that time, Bill was instrumental in developing and expanding sports at Beaver Falls, not just for the boys, but the girls as well. Bill was at the forefront for Beaver County when Title IX was introduced in 1972, a federal law that stated: "No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance." Bill's leadership at Beaver Falls set a blueprint for other school districts to emulate.

The Hall of Fame recognized Bill posthumously at the 1977 banquet with a certificate of appreciation, and now Bill receives his formal induction.

Bill and his wife Margaret are parents to four children: Kathy, Bill Jr., Tommy, and Peggy. There are eight grandchildren and six great grandchildren.