52 Faces of Community: Jo Ann Gross
By Holly Desrosier
Jo Ann Gross is engrossed with all things military. For the better part of her retirement, she has dedicated her time to giving back and showing her appreciation for service members of various generations.
Although Jo Ann never served in the military herself, her father was in the Army. She still has fond memories of admiring his uniform when she was growing up, which is what first sparked her interest in supporting members of the armed forces.
“When I was a young girl, I would go up in the attic and carefully unwrap the paper wrap protecting my father’s heavy wool Army coat and put it on, along with his hat,” she reminisced. “That coat probably weighed as much as I did. It was like a long one down to the knees. And I just felt so proud.”