Lasting Legacy: Documentarian, Public Oversight Chair Remembered By Tulsa Community

A Tulsa man who dedicated years of his life to learning and sharing information about the 1921 Race Massacre and the current search for victims, is being remembered after he died Monday.

Those who knew Kavin Ross describe him as kind and compassionate, and someone who engaged with history, and his community.

Serving as the chair of the Public Oversight Committee for the city's mass grave investigation, Kavin became a familiar face to everyone paying attention to the search for victims.

Aside from speaking at press conferences, Kavin was on the ground at Oaklawn Cemetery, side by side with archeologists. He helped carry human remains from the dig site, to the lab for analysis.

Well before the search at Oaklawn, Kavin worked to shed light on the massacre in many ways, including working behind the camera as Eddie Faye Gates interviewed survivors.

"And I also befriended a lot of those, a lot of those survivors who told their stories to the world, before they left this world. And I'm truly grateful to hear their stories,” he said in October of 2022.

“When the TV cameras were not there, Kavin was doing the work,” Oklahoma Representative Regina Goodwin said.

Goodwin went to high school with Kavin. She now represents the same district Kavin's father, Don Ross, did for 20 years.

"It's not his passing that we dwell on, we do dwell on what he has passed on to us,” she said.

Brenda Nails Alford, a descendant of massacre survivors, will miss having conversations with Kavin about their family histories.

"It was always from the heart,” she said. “And he just always was just a person that gave you his best. You know? And I'm gonna miss that. I know our community will miss that."

One of Kavin's last contributions to the mass graves investigation, was his own DNA.

News On 6 was there a few months ago, as Kavin worked with Intermountain Forensics to submit his DNA to be compared to burials found at Oaklawn.

"As sad as we are to lose our friend and colleague, our commitment and motivation to continue the search for the massacre victims remains steadfast," said archaeologist Kary Stackelbeck. "Kavin would have wanted us to continue and we aim to do so. There is still a lot of work to be done."

The lab said those comparisons are happening now, and will continue, as more DNA is collected from Oaklawn.

"Kavin was my friend. I was looking forward to finishing this investigation with him and going on to future projects, said Forensic Anthropologist Phoebe Stubblefield. "This is just terrible."

Kavin also worked with TPS students as a paraprofessional at McKinley Elementary.

His brother said Kavin died after a heart attack. He was 60 years old.

Services honoring Kavin’s life will be held May 29 at 11 a.m. at the Greenwood Cultural Center.

The City of Tulsa said a new Public Oversight Committee Chair has not been named yet.