Ronald Francis Kozma

Ronald F. Kozma, 79, passed away June 4th 2023 peacefully at Vienna Springs Health Campus in Miami Township, OH. Ron was born January 30th 1944 in Rome, NY. He is preceded in death by his parents Harry and Katherine of Rome, NY and his brother Harry Jr. “Bud” of Wilmington, NC.

Ron was a devoted husband, father, and grandfather who enjoyed all aspects of life, especially any of the numerous activities involving his three granddaughters. Ron is survived by his wife and high school sweetheart of almost 57 years, Judy (Stief) of Bloomsburg, PA, children, Leigh Ann Trame (Steve) of Charlotte, NC, Keith Kozma (Barb) of Dayton, Oh, and his three granddaughters, Mallory Trame of Charlotte NC, Alexandra Trame of Denver, CO, and Victoria Kozma of Dayton, OH.

He attended local schools in Rome, NY and graduated High School from St. Aloysius Academy. He attended St. Michael's College, Winooski, VT, and graduated in June 1965 with a bachelor’s degree in economics. He received his commission as a Second Lieutenant in the United States Air Force that same year.

In October 1965, Ron entered navigator training at Mather Air Force Base, Sacramento, CA, and earned his silver wings in July 1966. Also in July, he embarked on a cross country journey back to Rome, NY to marry the love of his life, Judy. He continued on to navigator bombardier training which he completed in March 1967. He was then assigned to the 465th Bombardment wing at Robins Air Force Base, GA, where he flew B-52 aircraft. In August of 1967, Ron and Judy celebrated the birth of their beautiful daughter Leigh Ann.

Ron was then assigned to the 509th Bombardment Wing, Pease Air Force Base, NH, in January 1969. One month after arrival he and the entire wing deployed to Anderson Air Force Base, Guam, where he flew 69 combat missions in the B 52 over South Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia. In September of that same year, he returned to Pease AFB only to be re-assigned to the 474th Tactical Fighter Wing at Nellis Air Force Base, Las Vegas, NV in January 1970. He entered F-111A combat crew training that spring. In April 1971 he was awarded Tactical Air Command's Aircrewman of Distinction Award for assisting in the safe recovery of the F-111 he was flying when it experienced a bird-strike on a low-level training mission causing the catastrophic loss of all the canopy glass. This was the first time an F-111 damaged that severely, because of a bird-strike, was not lost.

In May 1971 he was transferred to Laughlin Air Force Base, Del Rio, TX, until November when he was re-assigned to Mt. Home Air Force Base, Mt. Home, ID. As a member of the initial cadre, he was one of the first weapon system officers in the 347th Tactical Fighter Wing to become combat ready in the Tactical Air Command's newest aircraft, the F-111F. In November 1972 he was temporarily assigned to the 474th Tactical Fighter Wing, Takhli Royal Thai Air Force Base, Thailand, where he worked in the Radar Strike Target cell in support of the Linebacker Il bombing operations over North Vietnam. In February 1973 he returned to Mt. Home Air Force Base, where he became an instructor and standardization and evaluation weapon system officer. In November of 1973, Ron and Judy again celebrated with the birth of their rambunctious son, Keith.

Ron returned to Thailand in June 1974 assigned to the 347th Tactical Fighter Wing, Korat Royal Thai Air Force Base, Thailand. As lead weapon system officer, he flew three combat missions in support of the recovery of the supply ship Mayaguez, which had been commandeered by the Cambodians, in May 1975. He was then re-assigned to the 474th Tactical Fighter Wing at Nellis Air Force Base, where he remained until April 1977. During this time, he earned his master’s degree in Public Administration from the University of Northern Colorado.

It was back to Mt. Home Air Force Base and the 366th Tactical Fighter Wing. This time the entire wing of F -111As at Nellis was transferred and Ron was in charge of the beddown and resumption of flying activities in Idaho. In July 1978 he was selected as the assistant operations officer for the 389th Tactical Fighter Squadron. He was transferred to Detachment 520, Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, in May 1979. Ron was appointed Commander and Professor of Aerospace Studies in May 1981 and led the unit of over 190 cadets to its highest retention level since the all-volunteer course was instituted at Cornell.

In July 1983 he was assigned to Allied Air Forces Central Europe (NATO), Boerfink Bunker, Germany. There he was Chief of the Operations Information Cell, totally responsible for providing the status of allied forces to the multinational senior Battlestaff. He also implemented a computer driven color graphic display system that maintained real time intelligence data of enemy battle positions and assets.

In October 1986 he was assigned as Assistant to the Deputy Commander for Aeronautical Equipment, Aeronautical Systems Division, Wright Patterson Air Force Base, Dayton, OH. In March 1987 he assumed the position as Director of Subsystems/ Support Equipment where he was responsible for directing acquisition activities of over fifty professionals dealing with airbase performance, aerospace ground support equipment, and automatic test equipment.

Ron was a Master Navigator with more than 2600 hours of flying time. His military decorations and awards include the Legion of Merit, the Defense Meritorious Service Medal, the Meritorious Service Medal with one oak leaf cluster, three Air Medals, the Air Force Commendation Medal with one oak leaf cluster, the Air Force Outstanding Unit Award with Valor and two oak leaf clusters, the Tactical Air Command's Aircrewman of Distinction Award, the National Defense Service Medal with a bronze star, the Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal and the Vietnam Service Medal with three campaign stars.

Upon retiring from the Air Force in 1992 with the rank of Colonel, Ron and Judy moved to Bloomsburg, PA where he was the Director of the Department of Public Safety for Columbia County. He ran the county 911 call center and Emergency Management Agency.

After retiring a second time in 2006, Ron and Judy moved back to Dayton, OH to be close to their children and grandchildren. Ron was an avid Penn State football fan, and in his free time he enjoyed playing golf, watching all kinds of sports and motorsports, and in his younger years, he loved downhill skiing. Ron also loved dogs, especially his three beloved cock-a-poos, Sparky, Luka, and Sascha.

Visitation will be from 5:00-7:30 pm on June 13, 2023 at The Anderson Funeral Home 40 N Main St. Springboro, OH 45066. The Funeral Service will follow on June 14th at 12:00PM at The Church of the Incarnation 55 Williamsburg Ln. Centerville, OH 45459. Burial will follow the funeral service at 2:00pm at the Dayton National Cemetery 4400 W Third St, Dayton, OH 45428.

In lieu of flowers, the family asks to make a donation in Ron’s memory to The American Heart Association or Polycystic Kidney Disease (PKD) Foundation.