Ron was my best friend growing up. He would walk to our house to visit Denis and i most every Saturday, spend the day, then walk back. If our class remembers that terrible accident where classmates were drag racing and one car went out of control, off the road and head on into a bridge. The other car  came back but the car was already on fire. They heard the screams of the boys inside before they died.

Ron was in that car earlier and had a feeling he should get out. Because he did, he was able to live a long life to almost 75.

The love of his life was a girl in our class named Patsy Lewis? I think? Don't remember her last name. But there was never another girl that touched his heart like she did. But he was too bashful to ever tell her how he felt. We used to tease him about her. One time Denis, two other friends, and I were at my house and I fooled Ron and everyone who was sitting there. Made them believe I was calling her. Everyone thought it was a real call. I told her Ron like her. He nodded, then I told he loved her, with great sincerity he nodded again. Then to my shame, I said something I shouldn't have. Everyone burst out laughing - except Ron. When he started to come after me, and punish me, I was laughing so hard all I could do is hold the phone up to him so he could hear the dial tone. Lucky for me he heard it. But it took years for him to forgive me.

Ron had a severely retarded younger brother, kind of a reclusive, rather strange mother and a very strick, almost mean older father. 

I remember one time at the Right Spot Drive-In there was this goofy, irritating guy who was being himself and stood on someone's car roof. Everybody thought he was an idiot. But Ron liked him. Well, two police cars came and arrested him. Ron thought the officers were too forceful, so he pulled them back. They attacked Ron, he beat two of them up before a third officer hit him on the back of his head with a billy club. I remember how angry his money-strapped father was when he had to bail Ron out of jail. It was $350.00, which was a lot of money in 1961.

Ron joined the Merchant Marines and when he stopped in Wales, met a Welch widow with two kids. They ended up getting married. She wouldn't leave Wales and he wanted to return to the US. So they divorced.

He never found anyone again. He was a lumberjack for a while in the northwest and ultimately retired in a small coastal town in Oregon. He and I had lost touch, but he reached out to me several years ago and we had some great conversations. He was still in love with Patsy. He said he contacted her once but I don't remember if she was married or what. I'm pretty sure he never told her how he really felt. To my mind this was a shame. But he did have love in his heart. And I guess that's the most important thing.

Two weeks after my wife, Catherine passed away on March 24th, 2019. This was exactly two months to the day before her 75th birthday. I tried to contact Ron. He didn't answer his phone. So I wrote him a letter, with my phone number and asked him to call. A week later I received a call from a very nice lady who informed me Ron had been in good health, gone to the hospital and suddenly died. She said she was his house keeper and his good friend. She spoke very highly of his kindness, generosity, and soft spoken friendly nature. She said he would be missed by many of the good people in their little town.

Ron, as I said was my best friend in high school. Michael Brown was my other good friend. I also have fond memories of several others, like Jim Wiggins, Bill Black, Bob Snider, Fred Merrill to name a few. Also Jo Bisson, and Robin Hathaway from the class of '61.
Paul Chiniquy