Banker and Venture Capitalist Tutored Students

Peter Ross, 77, a retired banker and venture capitalist who spent his retirement years as a tutor at Oakridge Elementary School in Arlington, died of prostate and bone cancer July 9 at his home in Arlington.

Mr. Ross served as chairman and president of the Vienna-based United Financial Banking Companies Inc. from 1993 to 1997. He also was a director of the Business Bank in Tysons Corner, Arlington-based Healthy Companies International and other organizations and associations in the Washington area and in Chicago.

He became an active coordinator and participant in the Oakridge tutoring program after his retirement in 1997. As The Washington Post reported in 2006, he was one of about 50 older adults who showed up twice a week at the Arlington school to tutor in math and reading.

"You can only play golf or go to museums so often," he told The Post. "If you had a busy life and suddenly you're not going to work every day, you want to fill it up."

In the beginning, Mr. Ross was one of 18 tutors at Oakridge. When Principal Lolli Haws told him the school needed 50 tutors to take care of the needs of every student who could benefit from additional assistance, he took it upon himself to recruit them. He also trained his fellow tutors, produced a tutor's handbook and made sure their efforts conformed to learning standards prescribed by the state of Virginia.

Peter Harned Ross was born in Evanston, Ill., and grew up in Highland Park, Ill.

At Princeton University, where he received his undergraduate degree in religion in 1953, he was a featured singer in the "Triangle Show." A tenor, he later performed with a Chicago-area vocal group called the Windy Citizens.

After receiving a master's degree in business from Harvard University in 1956, he started his business career in Chicago as a management consultant with Booz Allen Hamilton, where he became vice president and partner. In 1969, he served as a member of the transition team for the Office of Economic Opportunity, then run by his Princeton classmate, Donald Rumsfeld.

From 1971 to 1983, he was chairman and president of the Urban Fund, a Chicago-based venture capital firm that sought to establish relationships between financially stable small- and medium-size businesses and minority -- primarily African American -- potential owners. He built a portfolio of more than 20 companies.

From 1983 to 1992, he was chairman and president of the French Baker, a chain of retail bakery-cafes in the Chicago area.

Mr. Ross's marriage to Deborah Kulby ended in divorce.

Survivors include his wife of 23 years, Anne L. Bryant of Arlington; two children from his first marriage, George Ross of New York City and Charlotte Ross of Los Angeles; a sister; and a grandson.

-- Joe Holley