I built this "Friends" webpage in 2003 but it is nice to see a happy Ron, smiling at his house.  

https://seanet.com/~pigandcow/ron.html

~paul

I just called Ron today to see how he was doing.  Since I moved from Capitol Hill and got married, I did not see my friend as much.  He was such a cool guy.  I laughed at the person who wrote about Ron's eating speed.  I remember going out to grab what I thought was going to be a "quick bite" with him and it took almost 2 hours.  

I first met Ron, at Boeing.  I was assigned to a temporary job in the "oil house" and it was my first day at Boeing.  Ron asked me:  "Where do you live?"  I replied:  "How well do you know Capitol Hill?"  Ron:  "A little".  So I tell him I live in the apartments, next to Baskins & Robbins and Ron asks:  "White brick building or brown brick building?"  

After work, one day, Ron says:  "Have you ever been to the bakery on Madison near Lake Washington?"  I had not and off we went.  Best tasking pastry ever.  One thing about Ron, he knew how to have a good time.  When his Dad died, Ron went into his favorite haunt (Ernie Steele's?)  and bought everyone in the bar a drink.

Ron was a fixture on the hill.  Sitting on his porch, watching the world (and women) go by.  Ron loved his friends and talking about them.  He absolutely loved talking about Martha.  He will be missed.  He was just a really great guy.

~paul caviezel

He & I  camped at Mt St Helens a week before it blew. We camped on the north rim of the Columbia Gorge to view a total eclipse. We trekked at Grayland—he was amused by my description of it as “a featureless beach.” We fished for rainbows in cold Cascades streams. He was my best man in 1981 in a small upstate NY village. Quite a lot of history, all of it good.

My good friend decided to take his final adventure November 26th. I had talked to him on the phone the day before he died. He allowed as how he wasn't feeling too chipper and was getting tired of battling the various maladies that had beset him in his later years. I met Ron when we were in Junior High at Nathan Eckstein in the early 50's. He and I had the same birthday, and were the same age.
Those early school friendship lasted until his exit. Ron was eccentric, and it was not an affectation...it was delightfully him. We enjoyed many adventures together, and there was one that rather cemented our friendship in a permanent way. After my Freshman year at the U-Dub, Ron and I set out in his 1940 Pontiac coupe on a road trip that took over two months, and covered almost 10 thousand miles of Americana! It was during this trip that I realized how laid back he was. If you ever shared a meal with him, you would have judged him to be hyper cautious. However, there was no alley, restaurant, or road to seemingly nowhere, that he wasn't eager to explore.
In the last decade, he and I got together a couple of times each month for coffee in downtown Seattle, hung out at the Market, jumped on a bus and rode to the end of the line, (Just to see where it went) and shared griping about the sonic boom of the "Seattle Explosion".
He was incredibly generous, well read, and clearly enjoyed laughing. When I told my good friend Ed Phillips, (Also a longtime friend of Ron's)how much I would miss Ron, he said "That's life, until it isn't".
The more I thought about that reply, the more profound it sounded...it says everything.
Henry Thompson

Most obituary notices and memorials paint the recently deceased as just one step short of Sainthood. Apparently only the good die. Our experience with life tells us this observation is not true. We all get to share two existential experiences: life and death.

Ron was a few steps  removed from potential Sainthood as are the rest of us. He was a normal human but not an ordinary person. No cipher him. He was fully formed and wonderfully eccentric as are the best of us. It is the eccentricities that provide us with the memories that stay with us. Memories are a person's greatest gift to heirs and friends. Ron has been very generous.

Ron was an exemplar of a variation on the "slow food movement", in his case the food moved slowly from his plate towards his digestive system. Some have argued that he viewed each meal as a scientific experiment and his plate was a petri dish. I prefer to think he was savoring his meal at the molecular level. We would kid him about finishing a meal before the food spoiled. Whatever, eating with Ron was a stop action experience and a source of constant ribbing that Ron gladly participated in. His eating style made overeating a physical impossibility as the day is only 24 hours. This leisurely eating style probably contributed to his lifelong slimness. Slimness helped him overcome the handicap of smoking for about 50 years.

I met Ron at Roosevelt High School. We were in the Class of 1955. I must admit that I didn't run with Ron and his friends in high school. I'm not sure Ron ran either. Vigorous exercise was not part of his regimen so far as I know.

I got to know Ron well while attending the U of W. It must have been by osmosis. At some point we were friends, and we often met at the old Northlake Tavern on Friday nights to do what college students do. Yes, we discussed philosophy, politics, economics, literature, and in moments of desperation, sexual fantasies.

In August of 1958, Ron, I, and Bob Jackman decided to drive to Mexico City in my 1939 Ford Deluxe, two door sedan. We built a luggage carrier and were off on a grand adventure. We all (including the car) made it back! Since that time we've been close friends

Several years ago, Ron, I, and Henry Thompson (another Class of 55 Alum and close friend) embarked on a "Geezers Gone Wild" trip to the Monterrey Jazz Festival. It was also a grand adventure. The scenery and the music were fantastic and the meals were leisurely.

I will miss Ron but his memory will bring a smile to my face. My life has been, and is, better for knowing Ernest "Ronald" Sparks.

Dear Uncle Ron may you be at peace and breathing well as you watch neverending solar eclipses, pick wild asparagus and walk the shores of Grayland. I will miss your stories at our get togethers and am thankful for hearing the story of what happened that day at your parents party place at the river at what would be our last Thanksgiving together. Some day I will see you again and we can continue where we left off. Give grandmother, grandfather, mom and Kelly a hug for me. It is with a grateful heart and in all sincerity that I tell you how much you mean to me and how much I appreciate you. My life is so much better for the memories of your kind, gentle ways. Your genuine smile, love of nature, joy in simple things and positive outlook are all things I admire about you.  Thank you for being the best Uncle and for being there the day Kayla was born and sharing that special day. We love you Uncle Ron and we will look for you in the sunrise/sunset at the next eclipse...you will be there by our side just like always. 

Ron was a unique and great hearted man. His loud giant laugh brought joy to everyone around him. He choosed to see the good in people. May his smile and spirit live on.         
Great Nephew, Joel.

Missing my best friend and companion of twenty-three years.  Rest well, my dear friend.

Ron was a good friend and a gentleman.  We met him in the 70's and enjoyed his company on many occasions.  He was always willing to help people and loved his Seattle neighborhood .  We will miss him always.

OBITUARY

Ernest Ronald Sparks

June 15, 1937 – November 26, 2017

Evergreen Washelli Funeral Home & Cemetery

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