Viper Enthusiasts and Owners lose a Friend

[JonB ~ PartsRack]

With deep sadness I report the death of Paul Ronald on 12/5/2013.

Paul was a bit jealous of his brother Chris in Ohio, who had a Gen 1 Viper back in 1994. At 6'7", Paul was a tight fit, or a non-fit. I have some comical photos of his helmet, indeed his whole HEAD, 'above the rollbar' at some autocross events here!

By long-standing appointment, Paul travelled to test-fit himself into my 1996 GTS back in June 1996. Then he bought one, and several more Vipers and Rams thru the years.

As the Pac-NW club grew, Paul was the logical choice to head the WA club when it finally collected 25 Members and became a State club. He served his Region for many years. Paul and Barb hosted an annual BBQ at their home in Olympia, with owners from BC, WA, and OR attending. Their neighborhood was legendary once a year as it filled with both BBQ and Tire smoke.

Paul was the first regional president of the WA club, then became a decade+ long national club director. His best-known and recognized work for the Club was as the head of the Bylaw committee since 2000, taking the club's bylaws from the Dodge Years, thru the Daimler and then Cerberus eras, then to Chrysler again. Paul was a principled stickler for openness, transparency, fairness, and oversight of bylaws thru 2010.

After engineering parts for Boeing and Intel, Paul 'retired' to a job with Marine Fisheries in Puget Sound, helping to protect that resource. A long-time smoker, Paul was taken too soon by an esophageal cancer. His passion for Vipers never waned, although it was reduced to a whisper near the end. This week, Paul will "Sleep with the Fishes" as his family and the Neptune Society spread his ashes over the waters he loved.

Please, those of you who knew Paul, please post a note. You may have seen him at most VOIs since 1997......his helmet was way above the bar, as was he.

Gonna Miss You Paul

[BlknBlu]

RIP Paul.

Bruce

[01sapphirebob]

Rip.

[City]

At the last Detroit VOI, I sold and delivered my former 1" seat lowering kit to Paul. Never met him and just left it for him at the front desk of the hotel. Before I left, I rec'd a had written thank you card mentioning his gratitude for my taking the time to properly repackage the items in the kit. Perhaps trivial, but his taking the time to hand write a note of thanks was something I never forgot that about the man. Odd as it may seem, ever since, I have had a new respect for every post he ever made. A true gentleman! My condolences to his family.

[City]

Jon just asked me to post this photo of Paul:

1728

[FLATOUT]

Very nice tribute Jon.

RIP paul.

[Leslie]

So sad:( prayers to friends and family!

[viperr]

I am sorry to see him go. Paul was so supportive of me when I got my Viper in 2007. He knew I collected Viper memorabilia and a few months ago he gave me his collection of Viper magazines from the very start to 2010. He was one of the people that I know that is just a great person and he will be greatly missed.

[Back In Black]

Very sorry to hear. I met Paul back in 1999 when he drove to Minneapolis with Tony Rickard to pick up my '97 GTS. That's Paul standing next to his Indy Ram getting ready to tow Tony's new GTS back to Washington. RIP Paul.

http://i117.photobucket.com/albums/o59/krefly/97%20GTS/scan0002.jpg (http://s117.photobucket.com/user/krefly/media/97%20GTS/scan0002.jpg.html)

http://i117.photobucket.com/albums/o59/krefly/97%20GTS/scan0004.jpg (http://s117.photobucket.com/user/krefly/media/97%20GTS/scan0004.jpg.html)

[chesapeake07]

RIP! Prayers are going out to his family!

[Late Apex]

Sad news indeed. Sorry to hear this. The Boeing part was interesting info for me.

[JonB ~ PartsRack]

""""Sad news indeed. Sorry to hear this. The Boeing part was interesting info for me. LATE APEX"""""


Paul was a systems-engineer for Reverse Thrusters from Rohr (sp?) who make them for Boeing

[Torquemonster06]

Thoughts and prayers to his family.

[daytonprowler]

Here is a picture that Chris, Paul's brother, submitted for our Ohio regional calendar. Paul on the left-Chris on the right. This was taken at VOI 11 in Salt Lake City. Chris called it "East meets West".

http://i1081.photobucket.com/albums/j347/Prowler2001/Prowler2001026/image_zps5e00a11c.jpg

[Late Apex]

""""Sad news indeed. Sorry to hear this. The Boeing part was interesting info for me. LATE APEX"""""


Paul was a systems-engineer for Reverse Thrusters from Rohr (sp?) who make them for Boeing Spelling correct Jon, Rohr, and I use them on every landing. Better deceleration than a set of Brembos !!!

[viperr]

I found a photo from one of the Paul Ronald BBQs. Each year he would invite the members to a great BBQ at his house. Here is a photo of our group with Paul standing at the left. He always made you welcome and you felt a part of the group, even if it was your first time.

http://i823.photobucket.com/albums/zz152/viper9910/Viperford2029_zps0c4ea79b.jpg~original (http://s823.photobucket.com/user/viper9910/media/Viperford2029_zps0c4ea79b.jpg.html)

[viperr]

I finally found the other photo from the 2007 Paul Ronald BBQ. This shows the cars out front and this was my first time there and it was an enjoyable time to meet all the other Viper owners. My black 99 RT-10 is in the foreground. This is the first time I had ever seen more than 2 Vipers together, so it was a real treat. Check out his banner on the garage. That is Paul in the middle of the 3 guys.

http://i823.photobucket.com/albums/zz152/viper9910/Viperford2024_zpsa7480979.jpg~original (http://s823.photobucket.com/user/viper9910/media/Viperford2024_zpsa7480979.jpg.html)

[Viper Specialty]

Wow, this came as a surprise to me when I read it, very sad news. I had spoken with Paul a number of times in the past, and know his brother Chris quite well, though I haven't seen him in a couple of years- the whole "business overtaking life" problem. Things such as this really put it back into perspective.

Godspeed Paul.

[Janni]

Jon is right -we have a lost a true friend.

Paul's passion was infectious, but then he was so level headed and committed to doing the right thing when it came to bylaws - he was 100% unflappable.

I will personally miss him as one of the 'old guard' - someone with a lot of history and an incredible sense of humor.

I also met Chris in Charlotte.

I am sorry for this loss and my prayers are with his friends and family.

Rest in Peace, Paul. We will miss you.

[WildViperLady]

So sad to hear this. We enjoyed visiting with Paul and Barb at some of the first VOI's we went to. It goes to show that determination can overcome obstacles when such a tall man can fit in a Viper.


With deep sadness I report the death of Paul Ronald on 12/5/2013.

Paul was a bit jealous of his brother Chris in Ohio, who had a Gen 1 Viper back in 1994. At 6'7", Paul was a tight fit, or a non-fit. I have some comical photos of his helmet, indeed his whole HEAD, 'above the rollbar' at some autocross events here!

By long-standing appointment, Paul travelled to test-fit himself into my 1996 GTS back in June 1996. Then he bought one, and several more Vipers and Rams thru the years.

As the Pac-NW club grew, Paul was the logical choice to head the WA club when it finally collected 25 Members and became a State club. He served his Region for many years. Paul and Barb hosted an annual BBQ at their home in Olympia, with owners from BC, WA, and OR attending. Their neighborhood was legendary once a year as it filled with both BBQ and Tire smoke.

Paul was the first regional president of the WA club, then became a decade+ long national club director. His best-known and recognized work for the Club was as the head of the Bylaw committee since 2000, taking the club's bylaws from the Dodge Years, thru the Daimler and then Cerberus eras, then to Chrysler again. Paul was a principled stickler for openness, transparency, fairness, and oversight of bylaws thru 2010.

After engineering parts for Boeing and Intel, Paul 'retired' to a job with Marine Fisheries in Puget Sound, helping to protect that resource. A long-time smoker, Paul was taken too soon by an esophageal cancer. His passion for Vipers never waned, although it was reduced to a whisper near the end. This week, Paul will "Sleep with the Fishes" as his family and the Neptune Society spread his ashes over the waters he loved.

Please, those of you who knew Paul, please post a note. You may have seen him at most VOIs since 1997......his helmet was way above the bar, as was he.

Gonna Miss You Paul

[GTSViper]

Paul was the third Viper owner I ever met back in May of 1997, we went on a mountain drive to Mt St Helens observatory with the PNW club. At the time I would have preferred a day at the track but Paul showed me that there was more to the Viper community than racing. I joined him as an officer when the Washington region split off from the PNW in late 1998 and have been to roughly a hundred events with Paul and Barb since including several VOIs.
The Ronald's annual BBQ started before the Washington region and was always a highlight of the calendar, several years I had a scheduling conflict and drove the 90 minutes to see him and Barb even if we missed the other attendees and scheduled event.
He was a great guy, a good friend and will be missed.
RIP my friend!

[pastohio]

I am very sorry to hear of Paul's passing, appreciate Jon B for keeping us informed....my thoughts and prayers will be with Chris and his great brother, Paul was many times a silent giant, and watching him get in/out of the coupe was really something to see...Denny

[eucharistos]

thanks for the notice and all the fine posts

RIP

[Rizzo]

Jon B just let me know about Paul's passing. I bought Paul's 05 VCA Edition Viper from him and I can tell you he was a total class act. In fact I posted on the VCA about my buying experience. I know I shouldn't post a link from the VCA but this one is worth it. It gives you a great idea of the kind of man Paul was. I am deeply saddened today to hear this news. RIP Paul. You will be missed my many.

http://forums.viperclub.org/threads/635480-Who-sells-a-Viper-in-this-condition-Disgusting-!!!