Ron and I had fun traveling space-A on air force planes. Ron slept a lot, and I  learned how to sleep in my own lap.

Ron was an amazing person who survived past our expectations from his cancer diagnosis. I was privileged to care for Ron as his nurse practitioner during the time he was a patient at the University of Washington. Saying he was a tough and tenacious person is an understatement. The journey at times was very challenging but he never lost the ability to sustain his desire to recover. His amazing and caring family were present throughout this journey. I know he be missed. 

Ron was my go-to guy for any issues I had.  The biggest favor he did was to introduce me to Linda. We have been married 35 years.
Ron and I took several memorable trips.  One was a military Space-A trip to visit his family.  We flew from McCord AFB to Dover, then we took an 8 passenger jet to Maryland with a 3 star General aboard, to visit Mike.  Had to take an 8 hr. bus ride back to Dover.  That was the scariest part of the whole trip. In a bus at night, in a traffic jam, in a tunnel, under Chesapeake Bay.  Then to Alabama to visit Tim.  Flew back to Dover and finally got a ride home on a C5, the largest plane in the AF.  The passenger compartment  is in front of the tail.  There are plenty of seats, but you sit backwards and there are no windows.
Another trip was moving a friends furniture to Mississippi in a rented truck.  At first we both wanted to drive.  By the time we got there neither of us wanted a turn.  Lots of strange bugs at one stop .  We took a bus to New Orleans to fly home.  I got to show Ron the French Quarter.

I really am going to miss when I would come up here as a child when we did not live here and he would take me to see a movie or to do something. He would take me to a barber shop or a restaurant I have never been to. I just know I’m going to miss him and the new things he showed me. 

Judy needed help moving her office one year after tax season was over and asked me to help by moving a large heavy desk she had been using. Another guy and myself carried this massive desk out of her office, downstairs and were loading it into the back of my pickup truck, grunting and straining the entire time because of the weight and size of the desk. When we had it almost completely loaded up, Ron came over to us and put four fingers underneath the desk and pretended to help lift and push it into the bed of the truck. He than stepped back, wipped the imaginary sweat from his forehead and said "alright boys, I think we've earned a break".  I couldn't help but to laugh, because Ron had the biggest grin on his face. 
Every time I saw him he had a playful nature to him and even when he was suffering he made "dad" jokes and what his plans were when he got better. 
I'm honored to have known him and be able to call him my friend. 

When I was little I always slept in my dad's old T shirts, they were huge, I would get up early, go in the bathroom and sit on the furnace vent, my T shirt would fill with warm air as I watched my dad shave, when he was almost done he would ask me what aftershave he was going to wear, even though old spice was his favorite, the bathroom window was lined with numerous different scents that the kids had gotten him for every holiday, no matter what one I chose he would wear it that day, as I got older the bottles ran out and finally it was only old spice for him but the time spent together is still cherished. 

When you all moved to Washington the only time I could really see you was each year when most of the family went to Fort Stevens over the Fourth of July. One of the days there Ron would go golfing with my Dad and husband. They all seemed to have a good time and stories to tell when they got back. At night we would go to there spot and talk. They always had a fire going. He will truly be missed. 

This man had so many title: Husband, father, brother, son, grandpa, papa, bepaw, great grandpa, and he excelled at all of them. I have too many memories to share, but a few just seem to jump out at me.

Dad always did everything in his power to make us kids happy. We didn’t have a lot of money growing up, but most of us didn’t realize it until we were older. We couldn’t afford Fancy vacations, but every year we went camping at Fort Stevens state park. We couldn’t afford fancy seafood dinners, but we could (and did) go fishing or crabbing and catch our own. We couldn’t afford plane tickets to travel to visit family, but we could pile nine people into a Pontiac Grand Prix and take a road trip to Oklahoma.  Each and every one of these things taught us family was more important than money. 

Dad taught us if you had the power to help someone or make them happy, you should do it. He used to take us to the Enchanted Forest. I lost count of the number of times he crawled down the rabbit hole or went down the slides because someone said “Do it again daddy, do it again.” I think he learned to wear a pair of old pants because he would wear out the knees or seat before the day was through.

While dad did everything in his power to keep his family happy, he was no pushover. As we got older, if dad thought we did something wrong, or were struggling and needed advice, he would invite us to his “office”. The office was the front seat of the car. He very rarely yelled, but we were left with no doubt what we did wrong. If we were struggling he always started the conversation with “advice is free do with it what you want.” He was almost always  spot on.

I love you dad and I will miss you.

OBITUARY

Ronald C Helgerson Jr.

5 April, 1943 – 18 May, 2021

Purdy & Walters at Floral Hills Funeral Home & Cemetery

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