Dr. Ronald Horst passed away on Thursday May 23, 2019 in the presence of his family at his home in Ames, IA. Ronald “Ron” Lee Horst was born on August 16, 1949, in Waynesboro, PA to Irvin and Madalyn (Miles) Horst.
A visitation will be held from 5:00 – 8:00 pm at Stevens Memorial Chapel (607 28th St., Ames, Iowa 50010) on Friday, May 31, 2019. A Mass of Christian Burial will be held at 10:30 am at St. Cecilia Catholic Church (2900 Hoover Ave. Ames, Iowa 50010) on Saturday, June 1, 2019. Burial will follow services in the Ames Municipal Cemetery.
Ron grew up on a dairy farm in West Virginia where he learned the value of hard work that would continue to serve him for the rest of his life. Upon graduating from Hedgesville High School in 1967, he began his undergraduate degree at West Virginia University, where he majored in Dairy Science and played football for the Mountaineers for a year under Bobby Bowden. He went on to the University of Wisconsin-Madison graduating with a PhD in Biochemistry and Dairy Science. It was during his time at the University of Wisconsin as a research assistant that he met the love of his life, Marina “Myke” Fitzsimmons. Ron and Marina met in 1971 and married in 1973; they were blessed with three daughters, Jaime (1978), Emily (1979), and Anna (1986). In 1977, Ron and a pregnant Marina moved to Huxley, Iowa to accept a federal position at the National Animal Disease Center.
Ron above all else was a family man and a silly Dad who loved nothing more than spending time with his kids and grandkids. He took every chance he had to spend time with them, whether it was having outdoor adventures, traveling to Idaho and exploring the Teton Reserve where they would collect golf balls, practice driving his golf cart, and hit balls at the driving range. Ron also loved attending Packer’s games, and relaxing with marshmallows around a bonfire.
Ron enjoyed wood working and creating memorable gifts for his daughters and grandchildren. He would spend countless hours in his woodshop learning alternative types of woodworking and bringing them to life. Ron was a scientist through and through.
Ron will be remembered by those who knew him personally for his calm demeanor and quick wit; he will be remembered professionally for his contributions to medical and veterinary research. Starting in 1977, Ron worked at the National Animal Disease Center, USDA in Ames, IA where he pioneered new methods for measuring vitamin D metabolites and elaborated the physiological role of vitamin D in health of animals and man. These studies led to the development of means to prevent milk fever in cows, rickets in pigs and poultry, and aided human researchers working on bone diseases. During his tenure at NADC, Ron served as Research Leader of the Metabolic Diseases and Immunology group and eventually became Center Director. Ron won the first established USDA Scientist of the Year award in 1983, the Presidential Meritorious Senior Professional award in 2006, the ARS Science Hall of Fame award in 2010, and many other American Dairy Science Association awards, along with the Spencer Award in Chemistry in 2016. In 2007, Ron retired from the USDA and took over the analytical process of his co-founded company, Heartland Assays, that analyzes serum and food vitamin D content, commercially.
He was also a co-owner of GlycoMyr, a company formed to investigate the use of novel vitamin D compounds he had synthesized for diseases such as colon cancer and inflammatory bowel disease.
Ron was preceded in death by his parents, Irvin and Madalyn Horst; and his niece, Pamela Horst.
He is survived by his wife, Marina “Myke” Horst of Ames; daughters, Jaime (Matt) Wandling and Emily (Jacob) Thom of Ames, Anna Horst of Camarillo, CA; grandsons, Troy and Reid Wandling of Ames and Aiden and Marshall Bybee of Camarillo, CA; and many nieces and nephews, especially Dana (Klint, Kole, Paisley) Stagner, of Cadiz, Ky, and Stacy (Jay, Kylie) Heisig of Ames.
Memorial contributions can be made in Ron’s name to the St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, or the American Cancer Society Hope Lodge in Rochester, MN.
