I spoke today with Maggie Allen, a paralegal from the law firm handling John's estate. She told me that one of John's cousins (on his mother's side) was able to find a key to a safe deposit box, and the law firm recently received a court order allowing them to open the box, in which they are hoping to find a will. They will also be checking with John's publishers and anyone else with whom he may have done business in an attempt to gain some information which might uncover a will someplace (apparently his cousin looked all throughout the house and couldn't find it there).

In the meantime, the law firm is aware that there were a number of things in John's house which actually belonged to other people and organizations for whom he was doing work (archiving, etc.). Anyone who had lent anything to John and now needs to reclaim their property should send a letter with a detailed description of the property to the law firm at the following address:

Maggie Allen, Paralegal
BRISLAWN LOFTON, PLLC
3450 Carillon Point, Kirkland, WA 98033
(425) 803-9500 (425) 827-7154 FAX
maggie.allen@brislawnlofton.com

Be sure to specify that your request is in regard to the estate of John M. Ross. Also, be sure to include your contact information so they can reach you for more details if necessary.

In case anyone missed the official obituary, it was published in the Seattle Times on Sunday, May 24. The online guest book will be available for at least another couple of weeks, in case anyone wants to write in it; and it will most likely be renewed for an additional year. Anyone interested in making donations to the obituary fund can contact Fred Maslan for information on where to send them.