RONALD "RON" SMITH

APRIL 30, 1947  -  MARCH 16, 2022

RONALD EHLBERT SMITH WAS BORN IN ATLANTA, GA ON APRIL 30, 1947.  RON DIED ON MARCH 16, 2022 AFTER A BATTLE WITH PANCREATIC CANCER.  HIS WIFE ANNEMARIE, HIS CONSTANT COMPANION, WAS AT HIS SIDE AS HE PASSED.  RON WAS A PROUD SON OF "THE FREE STATE OF WINSTON" AND WOULD BECOME ANTIMATED WHEN EVER HE TALKED ABOUT HIS MOTHER'S UPBRINGING IN WINSTON COUNTY, ALABAMA.  LOCATED IN THE RUGGED HILL COUNTRY OF NORTHWESTERN ALABAMA, "THE FREE STATE OF WINSTON" WAS THE POPULAR NAME GIVEN TO WINSTON COUNTY DUE TO THE PRO-UNION STANCE AND RESISTANCE TO CONFEDERATE RULE DURING THE CIVIL WAR.  RON'S MOTHER WAS ON OF FOURTEEN CHILDREN THAT WERE AS RUGGED AS WINSTON'S MANY HILLS, STEEP-WALLED GORGES, AND UNPREDICTABLE CLIMATE.  RON LOVED TO TALK ABOUT HIS ROOTS.  

RON SPENT HIS CHILDHOOD YEARS IN ATLANTA.  HE SANG IN THE ATLANTA BOY CHIOR AND PARTICIPATED IN THE BOY SCOUTS OF AMERICA EARNING THE HIGEST AWARD IN SCOUTING -- THE EAGLE SCOUT AWARD.  

RON GRADUATED FROM STETSON UNIVERSITY IN DELAND, FLORIDA WITH A DEGREE IN MUSIC.  WHLE THERE IN A WESTERN CIVILIZATION CLASS A GERMAN GIRL, ANNEMARIE KRUMHOLZ, WAS A BIT LATE TO CLASS ON THE FIRST DAY.  ALL THE SEATS WERE TAKEN EXCEPT ONE NEXT TO RON.  SO, ANNEMARIE SAT NEXT TO ROD.  AT THE END OF CLASS, RON ASKED HER TO GET A CUP OF COFFEE WITH HIM, AND SHE SAID, "YES."  EACH DAY THAT WEEK, SHE HAD COFFEE WITH RON AND, ON FRIDAY, HE INVIDED HER FOR A DATE TO DAYTONA BEACH.  SHE SAID, "YES."