“To fall in love with God is the greatest of all romances, to seek Him, the greatest adventure, to find Him, the greatest achievement.”– Raphael Simon.
Ron was born in Iowa City Sept. 17, 1935, in the depths of the Great Depression.
He died April 26, 2018, in Las Vegas, NV. He was preceded in death by his father, mother and brother. Surviving are his loving wife Billie of Las Vegas; and his four children, Kurt of Iowa, Mark of Texas, and Steve and Sara of Colorado. There are seven grandchildren and one great-granddaughter.
Ron’s dad Alva had the Oathout Funeral Home in Iowa City, across from the courthouse.
Ron thought being a mortician was a dead business, so he decided to go into dentistry.
He attended public schools and eight years of college (University of Iowa, BS general science and DDS) all in Iowa City. Voted ‘most likely to succeed’ by his senior class, Ron was then commissioned to the US Public Health Service and assigned duty as dental surgeon in the Federal Bureau of Prisons.
At noon on the very first day in the prison dental clinic, six inmates tried to escape by running across a field and climbing the fence adjacent to the hospital. Guards fired rifles from the towers and quickly quelled the break. What a beginning to a dental career! The inmates called him DR. TOOTH OUT.
Ron had many activities including 25 active years of playing team basketball. He was an ardent sports fan, all sports. Ron saw hundreds of baseball games at home and throughout the country. He had season Denver Bear’s baseball tickets for many years. His seats were next to the KOA broadcasting suite. Major League arrived and he was able to buy two VIP Colorado Rockies season tickets on the first row at the dugout alongside the bat rack.
Life is like a baseball game. Ron has a great-granddaughter up to bat trying to get to first. Grandkids on first looking at second base. Kids trying to steal third and Ron just slid into home.
After 30 years of private dental practice in Denver, CO, Ron and Billie retired in Las Vegas.
He loved desert gardening. Indeed a beautiful cactus flower blossomed the day he died, telling us all that he was at peace.
Services were held at Desert Spring United Methodist Church, Las Vegas.
