Born in 1887 at Glendale, Truckee Meadows, Silas Earl Ross was the son of a pioneer rancher and farmer. Following his public schooling at Glendale and Reno, Mr. Ross entered the University of Nevada, where he received his degree in mining engineering. After graduation in 1909, he remained at the university to teach chemistry, and at that time he worked in food, drug, and soil analysis for the state.

In 1914 he found a new career, that of funeral director. As a partner in the Ross-Burke Mortuary, he remained active until his retirement in 1966. The promotion of the community and education claimed as much of his attention as did his business. For eight years he was a member of the Reno City Council, serving also as mayor pro tempore and as a member of the committees on streets and finance. From 1932 to 1957 he was on the University of Nevada Board of Regents, and served as its chairman for most of the period. Mr. Ross was a charter member of the Reno Chamber of Commerce, the Nevada Children's Foundation, and the Reno Rotary Club. He has also written and lectured widely on the history of his profession, the state, and Masonry. His role in Masonry, nationally as well as in Nevada, was conspicuous. Mr. Ross became the state's Grand Master in 1923, and was a dedicated member of a multitude of the order's branches.

In his oral history Silas Ross gives much detail on student life in the school at rural Glendale and at the University of Nevada at a time when the university was emerging from its status as little more than a preparatory school and becoming a true institution of higher learning. Relying on his good memory and the written record, Ross offers a close look at the university from the highest levels.

Mr. Ross entered the mortuary business when it was becoming professionalized; when the undertaker was being transformed into the funeral director or funeral service operator. He played a major role in this transition by working for higher educational standards, more scientific approaches, and humane innovations in funeral services. Despite the refinements he and his colleagues promoted, he clearly shows that the funeral business in Nevada often required ruggedness and resourcefulness even in the twentieth century. His fascination with the burial practices of Nevada's many ethnic groups shows him to be a man of understanding and sympathy.