04/06/2023
It is with great sadness that I announce Lisa's passining, This was written in her own words. She passed on February 12th at home as she wished in her sleep. All of our animals were able to say good bye.
The only impossible journey is the one you never begin.
-Anthony Robbins
When Lisa Ross-Williams was diagnosed with cancer on July 19th, 2016, there were some important things she knew it could not do:
Invade your soul
Suppress memories
Kill friendship
Destroy peace
Conquer the spirit
Shatter love
Corrode faith
Silence courage
And indeed, in the past 56 years, despite the uncertainty and pain of this journey with cancer, it did not diminish her spirit, courage or will to live and love. Always headstrong and focused, she just would not allow it.
She also was determined to be at home until the very end.
Lisa passed away on February 12th at 8:30 A.M.in her sleep.
A special “shout out” to Maggie’s Hospice of Prescott, AZ and especially to Romney, Lisa’s in-home hospice nurse. Lisa taught Romney a few tricks using alternative/integrative therapies.
When Lisa Ross was born on February 1, 1967 in Joliet, Illinois to Wayne and Vivian Ross, little did they know what a headstrong, spirited daughter they were introducing to the world. Lisa grew up in two small towns; Chillicothe, IL and Eldridge, IA. During that time, Lisa spent many hours playing in the woods; sometimes with neighborhood friends but often alone. She found solace in nature with the trees and animals.
When Lisa was 14, her mother passed, and her dad, also known as Wayne the Pain, raised her during difficult teen years. Though he might not have understood her life decisions, he was supportive—for the most part!
As an early hint to Lisa’s life’s work, she was always horse crazy and collected Breyer horse statues and plastered her bedroom with posters featuring gorgeous horses with manes flying and daydreamed about cantering many miles on them. Each year the Ross family visited a dude ranch where Lisa spent all her time hanging out with or riding the string of trail horses.
Finally, at the age of 10, she welcomed her first horse: Liza, also 10, a beautiful bay Arabian mare. Having no lessons or knowledge of the proper way to care for a horse, she did what came naturally. The two best friends herded the sheep on the nearby farm where Liza lived, with Lisa riding ba****ck often from dawn to dusk playing Cowboys and Indians or Champion Cross-Country Jumper.
Lisa and Liza were partners for about 6 years and that mare lay the foundation for Lisa’s future. Her love of horses and the natural care of them and all animals—dogs, cats, emus, goats and chickens—were her life’s calling. A lover of dance, she was known to turn on a Pandora shuffle and dance with her dogs on the patio.
Lisa also became interested in Martial Arts after her mother died in the spring of 1981. Enrolled in a Karate school, she immersed herself in and excelled at the art, winning many competitions including state, regional and national tournaments. (This training came in handy when she gave some bullies a taste of their own medicine.) Lisa returned to martial arts again around 1997 and became an instructor for about three years.
Even though fearless when younger (often to the point of recklessness), Lisa grew more cautious as she grew older and was especially afraid of heights. At a county fair, while riding the Viking Ship she closed her eyes and screamed. “No! No! No! Stop now!” the whole time. Once, zip-lining in Colorado, she was so frozen with fear she could not let go of the harness when it was—finally—over.
At 18 years old, as spirited as she was, Lisa realized it was time to settle down and become more responsible. She enlisted in the U.S. Air Force in October 1985 and headed for basic training; she became a Law Enforcement Officer. Military duty was challenging but very rewarding for the four years she was enlisted.
After basic training and tech school, she was transferred to Torrejon Air Base in Spain for two happy years before being transferred to Wright Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, Ohio. It was there that Lisa, the only woman on a 45-member Air Base Ground Defense Team, met Kenny Williams in the spring of 1988; they were part of a team that would be tasked with protecting nuclear bases. Lisa and Kenny had an instant soul and physical attraction. Although still youngsters—21 and 20 years old—when they got together. They were married in Las Vegas October 4th, 1991.
During that time in the service, Lisa was required to qualify yearly to carry an M-16 rifle and 9MM handgun, but she was such a terrible shot, fellow colleagues shot at her targets so she could quality.
After her four-year stint, Lisa worked undercover for a private Law Enforcement agency for about over a year before deciding to move to Arizona with Kenny where Lisa’s father and step-mother lived. She and Kenny purchased a one-and-a-half-acre property in 1997 with plans to eventually have horses. Little did they know where this would lead—to a passionate exploration, education, and experiences in natural horsemanship since.
Against the advice of others Lisa bought an aptly-named horse, Rebel—a beautiful gray five-year-old Polish Arabian; he had pretty much given up on humans and was not afraid to show it. Rebel sent Lisa on a journey that would change both their life paths. As she began looking for horse-handling information to deal with Rebel’s special issues, Lisa realized how unnatural the conventional care practices were. Thus began her personal quest to find a better approach. Each horse that came into her life became her teachers, and each had a different lesson for Lisa to learn.
It became very clear that not only did Lisa owe it to her horses to continue to educate herself, but that it was her responsibility to share this information with other horse lovers—to be the horses’ voice to the best of her ability. The company, If Your Horse Could Talk, LLC was founded in 1998 to help promote natural horse care through knowledge.
Lisa built her first website on a WebTV system (she did not yet have a real computer) in 1998 and dedicated herself to extensive research, as well as an exploration of hands-on experiences which included clinics, seminars and courses covering natural horsemanship, hoof care, dentistry, bodywork, homeopathy, iridology, essential oils and nutrition. She earned a degree in Environmental Plant Science, completed the Basic Homeopathy Veterinary course through the British Institute of Homeopathy, completed the Reiki 1/Equine Reiki course in healing for horses, and received her certification in Equine Iridology. She also launched a radio talk show, moving to webcasts where she interviewed hundreds of natural horse care experts. After 10 years of writing, she self-published an award-winning book, Down-To-Earth Natural Horse Care.
Something the activist in Lisa was very proud of was her founding of the non-profit Arizona Alliance for Animal Owners Rights in 2005 to fight back against the Arizona Veterinary Board which began hassling and threatening non-vet practitioners—the people who did massage therapy, energetic bodywork and other non-invasive alternative therapies. For a year-and-a-half, she built support for a bill to allow non-vet practitioners to legally practice. Although the bill lost in committee by one vote, the Arizona Veterinary Board did back off of their harassment of people who were helping animals. The bill’s sponsor, former Sen. Jake referred to Lisa as “a firecracker.” She definitely took it as a compliment.
In 2014, Lisa took over as publisher of Natural Horse magazine, a unique publication dedicated to the continuing education of a horse’s caregiver and rider. It focuses on holistic equine care—humane and natural alternatives to today’s traditional means of horse care and training. Being educators for a natural horse care approach, and strong believers in the importance of play for a horse’s emotional and physical well-being, they Equi-Spirit Toys. Their super-durable Equi-Spirit Balls (www.equi-spirit-toys.com)have been featured on Henry Ford’s Innovation Nation, Canadian TV show Animals At Work, The Bonnie Hunt Show and the Ellen DeGeneres show. Lisa sold the product line Spring of 2022 to a very competent entrepreneur who will carry on the quality and customer service that Lisa & Kenny had.
While doing a breast self-exam, in 2016, Lisa felt a fairly large lump on her left breast. She learned quickly, through an ultrasound and subsequent needle biopsy, that she did indeed have a malignant mass. She immediately began researching possible protocols on her own before meeting with a surgeon; despite the surgeon’s recommendations—lumpectomy followed by radiation and possibly chemotherapy (which she said she would never do)—Lisa wanted to explore lifestyle and diet changes before committing to treatment. One of her favorite personal quotes was, “Knowledge is something no one can take away from you.”
She immediately started ordering books on cancer and all together read more than 3,853 pages on conventional and integrative therapies. Deciding on an integrative approach, she soon found a local naturopathic doctor who specialized in cancer. Her initial appointment with the doctor was empowering as she and Kenny felt they were, with the doctor, a team, not just a patient. Through a cancer nutritionist in the doctor’s office, Lisa discovered many dietary options—but could never quite give up her Arby’s roast beef sandwiches—and, for the next couple of years, began focusing on successfully managing not battling the cancer. Another quote Lisa lived by: You never know how strong you are until being strong is the only choice.
The availability of medical ma*****na was a great help to Lisa in managing pain, appetite and sleep. She also cherished her warm baths with “Pure” baking soda, organic coconut oil and essential oils—every Sunday and on holidays, without fail. Even when they lived on a remote ranch she had her baths in a special fire-heated cast iron tub Kenny created under the stars.
A Pet scan in September 2019 discovered that the cancer had grown and also spread to her vertebra. At that point, she retired from educating people about a natural approach to horse care and had to let the articles and interviews on her website—www.naturalhorsetalk.com—do the work for her.
While she still could, Lisa re-homed four of her beloved horses, Bam Bam, Flint, Cooper and Simon—with much sadness—after she learned her breast cancer was spreading. She lost her beloved Soul horse Rebel to cancer in 2017. Kenny and Lisa were able to bring two horses, Riley and Elvis back home after securing a horse property in Prescott, AZ.
Although her quality of life was still good, a Pet Scan in Oct 2020 revealed the cancer had spread to more vertebra, sternum, hip and pelvis as well as a lymph node in her lung. In 2021, Lisa’s cancer journey took a turn for the worse and she started to rapidly decline; down to 84 lbs.
After a visit with her father, she made the decision to “stick around” for a bit longer and if by a miracle, she did just that.
Unfortunately, scans in 2022 showed more spread; more vertebrae and ribs as well as a small mass in her brain. She also developed a fungating wound on her breast which was a challenge (only 3-5% of women with breast cancer develop this condition in which the cancer attacks flesh).
Lisa is survived by her husband, Kenny Williams, of Prescott, Arizona; her father, Wayne Ross of Sun City West, Arizona and her step-mother Judy Ross of Sun City West, Arizona both of which Lisa was estranged from prior to her death, step brother John Behrens of Davenport, Iowa, and Kenny’s extended family most who reside in Pennsylvania.
Lisa, a self-described “crazy cat lady”—leaves behind her beloved pets: eight cats—Smudge, Uno, Desi, Mitch, Samantha, Lil Man, and Murphy and considered them to be family and spiritual supporters; two dogs—Bravo Braveheart, her soul dog, a 5 year old Great Pyrenees, a Certified Emotional Support Animal and the most stubborn but loving dog she ever had; and Luna, a 2 year old Great Pyrenees and Anatolian Shepard Lisa picked out when Luna was just five days old and brought amazing puppy energy to the family at just seven weeks. She and Bravo formed a tight bound.
A passionate plant-lover, Lisa also leaves behind a houseful of plants, including some she has had for 29 years. She has directed that some of her ashes will go into a living urn in which an indoor Ficus tree will be planted. (Other ashes will be spread to the universe from a secret location.)
Always the educator, Lisa started a new business in Fall 2022, Natural Plant Wisdom, www.naturalplantwisdom.com in which she taught people about Biodynamic plant care.
Finally, although Lisa was a very private person with many acquaintances and professional contacts, there were only a few people she called true friends even though separated by years and/or distance; they were only a phone call or email away. They include: Mindy Koehl Shimmin, a friend since 6th grade; Laurie Root since 1990; Char Raby since 2014; Dena Fernandez since 1994 (and their antics shall remain a secret); Carla Lodwick in 2022 but it felt as if they’ve known each other for years. Lisa was to express thanks to these dear friends for playing loving and supporting roles through good and bad times of her life.
As many of these friends will know, Lisa has had a library card since age 5 and was an avid readerall her life: fiction, non-fiction, educational, self-help. She was never without at least one book, and often three or four, going at the same time. Because she loved the heft of a book and the feel of its cover, she never had a Kindle, and was known to dog-ear and highlight important passages. Eager to share this love of books, Lisa hopes attendees to her Celebration of Life, will take a book from her library and think of her while reading it.
Lisa’s wish for others fighting cancer is to make decisions—as she did—based on fact, not fear—and to follow their hearts and guts in making choices.
Instead of flowers, Lisa requested donations to either Equine Voices Rescue and Sanctuary in Tubac, Arizona, www.equinevoices.org or Proud Spirit Horse Sanctuary in Lincolnton, Georgia, www.horsesofproudspirit.org. Or better yet, adopt a horse, dog or cat.
Letters and cards can be sent to;
Kenny Williams
1725 W. McIntosh Dr.
Prescott Az. 86305
