Ronald Erickson

If life were measured by how many chapters one could fit into a single lifetime, Ron Erickson would have run out of pages decades ago. After 86 years spent collecting experiences, careers, friends, animals, and an astonishing number of newspapers, Ron brought the long and full adventure of his life to a close.

Born in St. Paul, Minnesota, Ron grew up playing football and hockey with the grit, enthusiasm, and selective rule-following of a true hockey player. In college, he turned that love of sports into a career as a sports writer, honing both his storytelling skills and his trademark mustache.

Never one to linger in a single chapter, Ron reinvented himself again and again—actor, casino executive, rancher, movie and television producer, thoroughbred trainer and breeder, nightclub owner, logistics expert... His family often joked that Ron collected careers the same way he collected newspapers: enthusiastically, relentlessly, and with no intention of stopping.

Of all the places he lived, Ron considered his years on his ranch near Lake Tahoe, Nevada, among the best of his life. Surrounded by mountains, horses, and the family he adored, it was there that he married the love of his life, Avis Miller, a former Playmate whose charm and humor matched his own. They shared 49 years together before Avis preceded him in death four years ago—no doubt waiting to greet him with a smile and ready to hear all the stories she had already heard more than once.

Ron spent his final chapter in Oklahoma, living at his daughter and son-in-law's home, where he continued to collect newspapers and offer expert opinions on everything from thermostat settings to the proper way to cook eggs.

He is survived by his sister Janet; daughters Alicia and Britta (and son-in-law Ryan); grandchildren Dare and Danika, niece Allyson, nephews Erik and Alex and an address book full of friends whose lives he touched.

Ron will be remembered for his humor, his larger-than-life adventures, and for proving—quite convincingly—that retirement is merely a word other people use. He leaves behind a legacy of horses, headlines, Hollywood tales, and cases upon cases of carefully collected newspapers.

A celebration of life for Ron and Avis will be scheduled at a later time.