Ron Rosander – March 15, 1938 – Dec. 20, 2019
Ronald ”Ron” Rosander, 81, of Springfield, Oregon, passed away Dec. 20, 2019.
Ron was born on March 15, 1938 in Taholah, Wash. to Clarence ”Chuck” and Pearl (Cultee) Rosander. He was the third of five sons.
He was born March 15, 1938 in Taholah, Wash. to parents Clarence, ”Chuck” Rosander and Pearl Cultee Rosander. He was the third of five sons.
His family moved to the Wishkah Valley when he was about 4 years old and he attended Aberdeen schools until seventh grade.
His family moved to Springfield, Oregon, when Ron was in seventh grade at Mill Street School.
He graduated from Springfield High School, Class of 1957. He had many good friends at Springfield and was a good athlete. He lettered in football and track.
He was a huge Oregon Ducks fan throughout his life and followed all Duck sports, especially football, basketball and track.
In September of 1957 he and his best friend, Ron Martin joined the U.S. Army. The enticement for this was that the Third Division they joined was going to West Germany for two years.
After dating throughout high school, and while he and Ronnie Martin were home on leave before shipping out to Germany, we were married at Trinity Baptist Church and were married for 61-plus years. In June, after I graduated from Springfield High, I joined Ron in Germany where we lived ”on the German economy” for the next 21 months.
Our first child, Rhonda Kay was born there, in Frankfurt in April 1959.
We returned to Springfield in 1960. Ron started working at Rosboro Lumber Co.
In April 1961, our second daughter, Jodee Nell was born and in June 1962 our son, Shane Martin, was born.
We spent two years in Tacoma, Wash., where Ron attended Tacoma Vocational Technical Institute.
In 1965, Ron became a firefighter with the City of Eugene. He loved his job and stayed there for the next 25 years. He was very proud to be a firefighter.
In 1967 and 1969 we were blessed with two more sons, Todd Vincent and Eric Paul. We bought our home on Water Street in 1972.
After retirement, in 1994, we decided to become snowbirds. We bought a gently used motorhome and spent a few winters traveling around the southwest. We found our winter home at Fountain of Youth Spa and RV Resort in Niland, Calif. We stayed there during most winters since 1999. We made many good friends there and also got reacquainted with an old Army friend from San Diego every year. We spent our summers here in Springfield.
Ron developed lymphoma in 2009 and was a survivor for 10 years. The chemotherapy took its toll, though, causing him to become increasingly more immobile. Even with that, we still managed to ”go south” for at least part of the winter.
Ron and I are blessed with our five children, 11 grandchildren and six great-grandchildren. We have huge birthday parties here at home or at various pizza parlors, restaurants and parks.
Ron was loved by his family. He adored his grandchildren and great-grandchildren. He will be missed terribly by all of his family.
Ron was predeceased by his parents; his two older brothers, Douglas and Vincent; and his granddaughter, Raina Pauline.
He is survived by his wife Dee; daughters, Rhonda Studenroth and Jodee Traweek; sons Shane, Todd (and his wife, Carol) and Eric (and his wife, Kelly) Rosander; grandchildren Kimberly, Kurt, Anthony, Alex, Syah, Emma, Talia, Sarah, Challen, Lauren Kate and Isaiah; and great-grandchildren Albert, Jack, Josie, Ronin, Maggie and Braxton.
A celebration of life will be held at 1 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 3, 2020 at Major Family Funeral Home in Springfield.