September 2, 1926 to April 17, 2018
On September 2nd, 1926, Ronald Henry Sprenger was born in St. Louis, Missouri, to Hubert Fred Sprenger and Mildred Louise (Lucas) Sprenger.
He was drafted out of high school into the Navy in February of 1945, close to the end of WWII and served as an electronic technician on several Navy vessels. He was discharged in July, 1946. Ronald married Betty Lee Doris Mueller September 5, 1948 in St Louis while he was attending college. He
completed his BS Degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Missouri in 1952 and started his career working for Universal Match. Most of his career he worked for defense contractors such as McDonald Douglas, NASA, Lockheed Martin and finally retired from Raytheon. Even after his retirement in 1993, Ron remained busy by selling insurance until he was 82. His final years were spent living in a rural setting outside El Paso enjoying the desert.
Ronald was a family man. When he was sent on business trips for an extended period, he would take his family with him. One of his extended trips took him to Holloman Air Force Base in Alamogordo, New Mexico and as usual, he took his family. Ron and Betty fell in love with the desert and a year later in 1960, they left their home in St. Louis, Missouri and moved to Las Cruces, New Mexico. While working for NASA at White Sands Missile Range, he would root his kids out of bed in the early morning hours and take them to watch missile launchings. He loved the outdoors and took his family camping, fishing and hunting.
Ronald and Betty were devout Christians. They enjoyed working with small groups and participated in starting and building Crestwood Christian Church in the St. Louis area, a Missionary Church in El Paso, and Mountain View Christian Church in Las Cruces, New Mexico. His volunteer church work included teaching Sunday School, leading singing, preaching, sponsoring youth activities, and conducting other church business.
Ronald Sprenger, who in his late years was lovingly referred to as Captain Ron, went home to the Lord on the morning of April 17th in El Paso, Texas. He was proceeded in death by his parents Hubert and Mildred Sprenger, his wife of 43 years, Betty (Mueller) Sprenger, and brother Hubert Wallace Sprenger. He is survived by his brother, Robert Burton Keeney (Elma), his five children: Bruce Sprenger (Janet), David Sprenger, Gwen Stroud (John Edwin), Jan Emets (Stanislav), Jeffery Sprenger, his grandchildren: Greg Sprenger (Rebecca), Julie Stangl (Chad), Joel Sprenger (Elise), Sam Sprenger, Elizebeth Fournier (Michael), Brett Stroud, Russell Stroud (Lee), Brooke Eisentraut (Eric), Gail Thomas (Bill), Tim Eubanks (Katie), and Rebekah Hudson, and his great grandchildren: David, Jonathan , and Sadie Sprenger; Sydney and Jake Stangl; Leland, Emory, Oliver, Georgia and Contance Sprenger; J.R. and Henry Stroud; Mitchell and Rose Eisentraut; Orianna Vasquez and Israel Chapa; Ethan and Leia Eubanks.
