The Passing of a Legend
By: Import User
Updated: January 7, 2009
A prominent figure in the world of local sports has died.
Don Gross was the voice of Joplin sports for more than half a century.
Fans took a moment before Saturday`s Lions game to remember the legend of a man with the golden voice.
Gross devoted over 3-decades of talent to tell Lion fans about their teams, an icon who spent more than 50 years broadcasting college and high school sports in Joplin.
Gross became the voice of Missouri Southern State College athletics in 1968, announcing baseball, softball, mens and womens basketball, and Lion football games.
The St. Louis native had a long and lucrative career, starting as a minor league baseball player.
An injury took him out of the game, and thus began a career in broadcasting.
In 1999, Gross was honored as Pioneer Broadcaster by Southern, a title synonymous with his oustanding achievement in broadcasting.
Friends recall Gross`s sportsmanlike nature in all that he did.
He`s a broadcasting icon who will be missed.
Gross also served as sports director and later news director here at KSN from 1975 to 1987.
Funeral services will be 10 o`clock Tuesday morning at St. Mary`s Catholic Church in Joplin.
Burial will be at Ozark Memorial Park Cemetary.
Gross was 77 years old.
Reported by: Ryan Loyd
