Oroville >> A few words came to mind again and again for many friends and former students to describe longtime Oroville High School administrator Charlotte Ross, among them: steady, full of “tough love” and “like a second mother.” She also was well-known for her phrase “Go to class!”

Ross died on Wednesday at age 73 after multiple battles with cancer. In her time at Oroville High School amounting to over 30 years, she influenced countless lives. Ross worked as a campus supervisor in the ’70s and then as an attendance clerk, retiring in 2009.

Though those were her official positions, she was considered more of a counselor figure. Several former students, when sharing their stories, said she had a special way of getting them to listen.

Ross may have pushed them to pursue a college degree or helped them through high school. In some cases, she provided a roof over their heads. On Thursday, friends reached out to share their memories.

Bob Schmautz, a health and physical education teacher at Oroville High School, met Ross in ’81 when he began student teaching.

“She was known as the ‘boss of the school,’” Schmautz said. “She was introduced as that. Every principal recognized she was the epicenter of the school. She was the magnet.”

Ross was one of several teachers who took Schmautz under their wings, he said. She offered him meals and a place to stay when he was struggling financially.

“That was her legacy,” he said. “I never met anyone in my life that was moulded to help others no matter the situation was. It didn’t matter who you were.”

Ross grew up in Bangor. Having lost her father at a young age, she and her siblings pitched in and did what they could for the family. That mentality affected the way she lived and worked, Schmautz said.

“She was the rock,” he said. “There was never a time she was not available to help anybody. Providing help for people was more important than material things.”

They developed a close friendship over the years and their families made snow trips an annual outing. They went on camping trips and visited over the holidays. His son, Tyler, grew up understanding that she was an extension of their family.

At work, the way she talked with students was “magical” to watch, Schmautz said.

“If you’re a teacher or administrator, you’re always trying to make a difference,” he said. “All of us dream about making an impact. She did it.”

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Doug Courtemanche got to know Ross when he was in the sixth grade. His parents divorced when he was a kid and his mom moved away and his father commuted to the Bay Area to work. The boys were looked after by different families when his dad was gone.

When he was in eighth grade, Ross started stepping in more, taking on a motherly role, as he described it. She made sure Doug and his older brother, Les, had a place to stay when needed, including dinner, a ride to school and help with homework.

“She would always make sure I had food,” Courtemanche said. “If I ever needed anything, I’d look to Charlotte. She always treated me like one of her own kids.”

He said he has thought about how his life could have been different, without the support of people like Ross and Schmautz. He did not really think of attending college before, though he would go on to attend Humboldt State University.

“(Without them) I would have had no chance,” Courtemanche said. “Especially when you grow up in Concow, there are a lot of things that can take you off track when you live by yourself at a young age. They really gave us good guidance. We never wanted to let them down.”

He began visiting Ross once a week, driving from his home in Arcata, when her state began to worsen. They watched cooking shows and hung out together. The last time he visited her, he said he knew she was not going to make it.

“She’s the most important person I’ve ever known,” he said. “I’m so glad she’s not suffering anymore.”

Doug’s brother, Les Courtemanche, said Ross saw his potential and encouraged him to utilize athletics as a way to further his education and open doors. He now tells the same things to student-athletes in his role as a track coach at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo.

Courtemanche lived with Ross and her now-deceased husband Carl when he was a sophomore in high school. They were both huge fans of youth and high school football, he said.

Ross kept a neat and tidy home and expected Courtemanche home by dinner time. If he was late, he was in trouble.

“It was definitely tough love,” Courtemanche said. “She just wanted to have structure. She wanted to make sure she implemented that love in all of us.”

She got him to start thinking about college and career possibilities at a time when he needed direction, he said. Ross’s son, Steve, had found success in his life stemming from athletic ability, going on to play college football. Courtemanche played as quarterback at Humboldt State and went on to play at the professional level with the European Football League for three seasons.

“A big message I think I got from her was that she always wanted to me to think further down the road,” he said. “She saw drive (in me) to open up possibilities beyond the town of Oroville.”

Ross was there when close family friend Jimmy Johnson was born. His dad was at a track meet — as he was the coach.

“She changed peoples lives, I saw it from the time I was a little kid to now,” Johnson said. “If I could tell you how many times people told me ‘I wouldn’t have graduated without her.’ You’d go to her house, there would be five or six kids she was feeding there or helping them with homework.”

Johnson said the phrase on her car license plate was something students would always hear from her: “Go2Class!”

“You’d hear her yell that across the quad, across the office,” he said. “It wasn’t a fear exactly, but it was like a motivational fear. I bet you if she did it to 10 people it worked on nine of them.”

As soon as he walked in the door, he expected to hear a loud voice exclaim, “Get in here!” Johnson remembered showing up to school 30 minutes late once with a buddy. They had gone duck hunting before school, and sure enough, they got a talking to.

“We’d go, ‘Oh no, we’re dead,” Johnson said. “She’d yell at us and then say, quietly, ‘Well if you missed school, did you get any ducks?’”

Ross is survived by her son, Steve Ross, his wife Lisa and their children Samantha and Reid. Ross’ siblings are Diane, Bob and Doug Post. A celebration of life will be held on her birthday, Jan. 3 at the Oroville High School gymnasium starting at 10:30 a.m.