Ronald (Ron) Priest, died at the age of 78 Friday, Nov. 26, at Borgess Hospital in Kalamazoo.
Ron was a lifelong resident of Allegan County. Born Jan. 31, 1943, to the late Donald (Don) and Mryna (Butcher) Priest in Allegan, he never moved far from his family roots. Aside from his time in the Army, he lived in Allegan until 1976. At that time, he moved to Martin with his wife and three daughters where he resided until his passing.
Ron graduated from Hopkins High School in 1961. Soon after graduation, he enlisted in the U.S. Army where he served for three years. Besides his family, there was little that was more important to him than his country, the American Flag, and what it stood for.
If you needed a hand, he was the first to volunteer; if there was something that needed to be done around the house, he was handy enough to do it, including rebuilding the engine of his truck (and there were no spare parts when he finished.)
Ron married his high school sweetheart, Margaret (Beard), in 1962. They recently celebrated their 59th wedding anniversary. Ron and Margaret had three daughters, who in turn have blessed them with a large extended family.
Throughout his adult life, Ron held several jobs. He gave 110% and rarely missed a day of work. After his military service, Ron held a few short-term jobs until he started work at Eaton Corporation, where he was employed for more than 17 years. He worked on the family farm during the summer months (Beard’s Produce), was a bus driver and transportation supervisor for Martin Public Schools and finished his employment career as a semi driver.
Ron retired in 2007. This freed up his weekends and nights so he could attend the sporting events and activities of his grandchildren. Many nights, for years you would see Ron in the stands cheering his grandsons on during their football games, wrestling matches, cross-country races, band concerts, dance competitions and soccer games.
Ron also enjoyed spending time camping with his wife and family, and in his younger years hunting and fishing were on the agenda many weekends and evenings.
Over the past several years, Ron has had some health issues and a few almost tragic accidents. He came through each of them, and it was deemed that he had the nine lives of a cat.
Ron is survived by his wife, Margaret (Beard) Priest; daughters, Laurie (Dean) Aspeleiter and Leaann (Lloyd) Thomas; son-in-law, James (Jim) Kibby; grandchildren, Jimmy (Courtney) Kibby, Dana (Chy) Kibby, Logan (Lauren) Eding, Kolton Eding, Janna (Austin) Evans, Dylan (Izzy Vail) Schafer, Devin Schafer and Macie Eding; bonus grandchildren, Courtney Aspeleiter, Ryan (Arienne Erhardt) Aspeleiter and Kelly Jo (Kelly) Creekmore; four great grandchildren with two on the way; four bonus great grandchildren; five bonus great, great grandchildren; brother, Richard (Nancy) Priest; sister, Melody (Ron) Gordon; and numerous nieces and nephews. Ron was preceded in death by his parents, Donald and Myrna (Butcher) Priest; his stepmother, Eleanor (Brown) Priest; his mother and father-in-law, Otta and Una (Selby) Beard; and daughter, Shelly Kibby, just 12 days before his passing.
Friends may visit with the family from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m Thursday Dec. 2 with the service immediately following. Visitation and service will be held at Hopkins Community Church, 2142 128th St.
In lieu of flowers, consider making a donation to the Allegan County Humane Society in honor of Ron’s fur babies Harley, Molly, Rambo and Rascal.
