Ronald Edward Ware

Born on the 24th of June, 1952 in Rutherfordton, Ron was the treasured only child of the late Edward Jack Ware and Hazel Lawing Ware.

When he was just a little boy, Ron and his parents permanently relocated to Charlotte. He attended public schools in the city and graduated from West Mecklenburg High School with the class of 1970. In his young adulthood Ron was known to enjoy cars and he loved to go fishing.

A good Christian man, Ron was a dedicated member and one of five Deacons at Berryhill Baptist Church in Charlotte. He was well liked and respected, not just as a member and Deacon, but as a friend too. He was consistently helpful, a great resource in many ways, and his church family was especially delighted when he would help them count and handle the offering money on Sundays.

Ron retired from US Foods in the early 2000s and was known to comment on how great his boss was during his time there. Following his retirement, he stayed home to devotedly care for his sick mother until her passing in 2013. Though Ron was an acutely private person, his periodic stories and comments about his mother, Hazel, revealed just how deeply and unconditionally he loved her. Ron took her everywhere and did everything for her, and in return, Hazel loved her son - her baby - with the same intensity.

An inherently generous person, Ron offered his beloved mother’s belongings to some of the ladies he attended church with, allowing Hazel’s possessions to continue being cherished by others. At church, at work, and in his personal life, it was universally known that Ron would do anything for anyone. Personable and charming, he was nice to every person he ever met, and he would go out of his way to make people feel welcome. Whether he was asking you a question or just chatting about your day, Ron always had a smile for you. He would remember small details about each person's life, like what pets they had, or their special family members, or their hobbies, and made sure to ask about them during your next conversation.

Ron was an intelligent man - notably good with computers and always just seemed to know exactly how to fix whatever technical issue someone was having. He was also remarkably good at crossword puzzles and was impressively unafraid to take on the notorious Sunday puzzle in The New York Times. Some of his more simple pleasures in life included working in his yard, tending to his confederate roses and magnolia tree, and shopping at the grocery store on senior day.

For the last eight years, Ron has worked as a Dispatcher at Forest Lawn West Funeral Home in Charlotte where he was more than just an employee and coworker, but a core member of the Forest Lawn West family. He was intrinsically smart, logical, and meticulous, and those qualities were especially evident through his work. When Ron was tasked with a job, you knew it would be completed carefully and correctly.

During his time working at the funeral home, Ron’s contributions were acknowledged on many occasions. He was once given medallions as tokens of appreciation for his hard work during unique and challenging services.

In recent years, Ron had started bringing in Chick-fil-A breakfast sandwiches on Saturdays for the staff on his shift. If someone didn't eat meat or had any other diet restriction, he made sure to find and bring something else on the menu that they could enjoy. He did this purely out of the kindness of his heart and always paid for it with his own money. His insistence that everyone get their biscuit and whatever sauce they desired was unfailing.

Ensuring everyone had eaten was a consistent theme with Ron, and if you ever mentioned being hungry (and even if you didn’t), he always had a pack of crackers, mixed nuts, cookies, or some other kind of snack to offer. Occasionally, Ron would bless those around him with one of his secret recipe dishes. For lunch potlucks at work, Ron would bring his flavorful baked beans or his delicious pound cake, and every once in a while, we were lucky enough to get a taste of his famous “Vitamin R.” Ron’s “vitamin” was famous, especially at his work, and was the perfect mix of coconut, chocolate chips, whipped cream, and Hershey’s syrup.

Though he was often given a hard time about working so much, his work family benefited greatly from his work ethic, dependability, expertise, and his cooking skills. There are not words to clearly convey the invaluable presence he was to the team.

Ron is survived by a handful of loving cousins and a host of church members, coworkers, neighbors, and friends who will all miss him dearly.

Friends are cordially invited to a visitation with the Ware family from 10:00 a.m. until 11:00 a.m. on Saturday, the 9th of October, 2021 at Forest Lawn West Funeral Home, 4601 Freedom Drive in Charlotte.

The funeral service will be conducted at 11:00 a.m., following the visitation, in the Paul Helton Hall at the funeral home. The interment will be private.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in Ron's memory to Berryhill Baptist Church.