Ronald George Van Horn, age 80, went home to be with the Lord on September 19, 2019. He was born on April 29, 1939 to George and Iva (Van Patter) Van Horn in Sunnyside, WA. Ron grew up in Zillah, WA where his parents owned Van’s Grocery. After several relocations of the family, he graduated from Sunnyside High School in 1957. Ron worked at various places in Sunnyside until he enlisted in the United States Coast Guard studying aviation electronics. Ron married Valerie Kraft in 1960, and they made their home in the Bay Area. They welcomed three children during the time he was stationed at the USCG Air Station in San Francisco, CA. Ron continued schooling, advancing to AT-2 and completed 1000 hours of flight time on the C-130 Hercules Prop-Jet Transport. He was proud to serve and was honorably discharged in 1966.
The family settled in Portland, Oregon where Ron worked as a quality control engineer/manager at Ford Industries/Code-A-Phone, Mark IV, Flir Systems, ESI, Celestica and VXI/OECO companies. Going to night school through the GI Bill, Ron graduated with an Associates degree in Applied Science & Engineering.
Ron enjoyed studying the Bible, camping, playing games (Pinochle & Cribbage were his favorites), taking in Portland Winterhawks games, and of course, cheering on his beloved NY Yankees baseball team. Ron loved spending time with his family and friends; he was especially crazy about his grandchildren. Ron was kind, generous, smart, compassionate, and just a little bit ornery. He was dearly loved and will be greatly missed.
Ron is survived by his wife Valerie; children Michael Van Horn (fiancé, Denise), Rhonda Pearson (Dale), Patrick Van Horn; grandchildren Ben Pearson, Tom Pearson, Ryan Van Horn, and Sarah Van Horn; siblings Marjorie Rank, Linda Wertenberger, Gary Van Horn (Sally), Gloria Hall (Doug), Maryann Sauve (Mike); brother-in law Tom Kraft (Bonnie) and numerous nieces and nephews.
In lieu of flowers, please consider making a donation in Ron’s memory to:
The American Red Cross, 1-800-435-7669
https://www.redcross.org/donate/memorial-donations.html/
Providence Portland Medical Foundation Hospice Fund, 503-215-5546
https://oregon.providence.org/our-services/p/providence-hospice/hospice-funds/
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