Salisbury Mourns Death of Superintendent

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As the sound of a lone bagpipe wailed outside Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Bethlehem, mourners gathered inside for the funeral Monday of the late

. He had been hospitalized for about a month after collapsing from an aneurysm and suffering two strokes and a pulmonary stroke, his wife Maryann told the Morning Call. Gross had been in a coma at St. Luke's Hospice House, with his wife and family nearly constantly by his side.

Family, friends and colleagues spoke movingly about a man who exuded life, confidence and joy, a man who had loved music, his family and dedicated more than 30 years to public education.

Gross and his wife attended church faithfully and could be seen every week at the 8 a.m. Mass in the third row, recalled the Rev. Francis Nave, who said he lost not only a parishioner, but a friend.

"There is a heaviness in all our hearts," he said. Many may question God's existence when someone dies young, he said. "'Why?' could be one of the strongest faith statements we could ever make."

Richard Agretto, director of special education for the Bethlehem Area School District, where Gross had served as an assistant superintendent, said the pair had a special bond and had connected the first day they met. Gross' humor helped Bethlehem administrators get through some tough times, he said.

"It was always fun to be around Bob," Agretto said. "Bob had a very unique personality. He danced to his own beat. He had such a zest for life."

After Gross lapsed into a coma, "we were all hoping for a miracle that never came," he said. Sitting next to Gross' bedside in his final days, Agretto spoke to him, stoked his forehead and kissed his cheek. "Bob opened his eyes, which he had not done once in the previous four weeks. I truly believe Bob heard me."

Agretto urged everyone to turn on their radios or play their favorite CD "a little louder than usual" when they returned home from the funeral in tribute to Gross, a former music teacher and chairman of the department East Penn School District.

And if Gross had a song, he said, it would be "My Way" by Frank Sinatra because "Bob did it his way. Bob was a great educator and made a great difference on the world around him."

Gross' unexpected death was a reminder, he said, "how fragile life can be."