Ronald Jerry Cima

Ronald Jerry Cima (age 75) died peacefully on September 25, 2018, from complications of a September 15 heart attack. Born on July 22, 1943, in Ithaca, New York to Alessandro and Rosina Bucci Cima, Ron graduated from Ithaca High School in 1961. In 1967 he earned his Bachelor of Sciences degree from Cornell University. At Cornell, Ron sang with the Glee Club and traveled throughout Southeast Asia on a U.S. State Department-sponsored tour. Ron enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1967 and graduated Officer Candidate School in 1968. From January 1969 to August 1970, he served as an intelligence officer in Vietnam. He earned his Master’s Degree in Southeast Asian Studies at American University in 1976 and from 1977 to 1989 worked as a Southeast Asian specialist for the Federal Research Division of The Library of Congress. There, he wrote numerous articles about Southeast Asian society, economics, and politics. He edited and contributed to Vietnam: A Country Study, published in 1989. Ron moved to the Defense Department in 1989 and spent the remaining 20 years of his career in the Prisoners of War/Missing in Action Accounting Office (DPAA, formerly DPMO), retiring in 2009.

Ron married Mary Gay Gibson in 1976 in Falls City, Nebraska. Together, they built a loving family and network of friends, raising two children. Ron sang in the Choral Arts Society of Washington and was a founding member of the Washington Men’s Camerata. At the Unitarian Universalist Church of Arlington, Ron sang solos in the choir, acted in Chalice Theatre, and held public solo concerts to benefit the church. Ron was loving, loyal, passionate, charming, humble, witty, and deeply intelligent. He will be dearly missed.

Ron is survived by his wife Gay Gibson Cima, son Gibson Alessandro Cima, daughter Anna Francesca Cima Kurtz, son-in-law David Isaac Kurtz, daughter-in-law Jessica Lynn Cima, and his two granddaughters, Adeline Rose Kurtz and Loretta Mae Cima. Services will be held this Saturday, September 29, 2018, at 10 AM at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Arlington, 4444 Arlington Blvd, Arlington, VA 22204. In lieu of flowers, we ask that you consider donating to the Unitarian Universalist Church of Arlington to support programs that Ron deeply loved, such as the Choir and Chalice Theatre. Contributions may be made in Ron’s name at https://www.uucava.org.