- Date Of Birth: November 29, 1950
- Date Of Death: September 23, 2020
- State: Michigan
Ron Prange left his worldly life on September 23, 2020, in the ICU at Bronson Hospital, relieved to end a four-year struggle with a series of escalating complications, including seizures, neuropathy, ulcers, dementia and finally kidney failure and pneumonia. He was 69, just 2 months shy of his 70th birthday.
Ron was born in Fort Wayne, IN on November 29, 1950, the only child to Quentin and Margie (Wiggins) Prange. He grew up there, was actively involved with baseball as a youngster, and became a standout throughout his teenage years.
He attended South Side High School and developed lasting friendships with Lee Ann, Mark, Tom, Tim, Rex and Roger. He accompanied his high school choir on the piano, but preferred playing drums for “The Rising Sons,” a foursome of guys (Steve, Don, Mike and Ron) who did gigs at high school dances and parties. The guys were great.
Still wanting to be a professional baseball player, he chose to play at Western Michigan University under Coach Fred Decker. Unfortunately, a baseball career was not to be, but teammate Dave Babcock provided another lasting friendship as they shared apartments throughout their undergraduate years at WMU and a lifelong kinship with his family. Ron then decided to pursue an MBA in Bio-Chem at WMU. How fortuitous it was that the Upjohn Company was hiring animal caretakers and Ron was able to link up with an Upjohn PhD in Diabetes to sponsor his MBA thesis. That opportunity began a 27-year career at the Upjohn Company (later Pharmacia), working in the Diabetes/ Atherosclerosis lab, then as a Project Manager in Drug Development. An MBA in Business at WMU later afforded Ron an opportunity to join Marketing Business Development which eventually moved him into Strategic Planning and a position on the Corporate Staff.
During Ron’s years at Upjohn, he taught night business/accounting classes at both Davenport and KVCC, and after retirement became a part-time instructor at WMU’s Haworth College of Business. Ron loved teaching and he was a favorite with his finance students. Their performance reviews of him were among the highest ever recorded in the department.
Also while at Upjohn, Ron participated in many industrial sports leagues including men’s softball, bowling and coed tennis. It was then that he met his future wife Mary. After a year and a half courtship, they married in 1978 and soon started a family. Together Ron and Mary nurtured their son Vince and daughter Angie’s interest in T-ball, then baseball and softball. To their dismay, both chose the game of soccer as their favorite sport. So, Ron and Mary switched gears and became students of soccer. Ron coached and managed both Vince and Angie’s teams in the MISLE and Portage Soccer Leagues from the late 1980s through the 1990s. In 1993 he managed their TKO teams for another 5 years, while also coaching and managing other U-10, U-11, U-12 and U-13 Portage Soccer teams. So much was Ron involved with soccer that he became a Registered MHSAA Official Soccer in 1995 and refereed for eleven years.
Ron’s team managing didn’t stop there. In addition to soccer, there was hockey. Vince loved the Edmonton Oilers during their prime hockey years, so Ron started him in KOHA’s Pee Wee and Midget Hockey Leagues and of course, took up the managing duties. Those duties lasted until Vince moved to PCHS Hockey.
Ron and Mary had 42 wonderful years together raising Vince and Angie. Their favorite family vacations included a Caribbean cruise and a dude ranch river-rafting excursion. And of course, there were the uncountable travels to soccer and hockey tournaments in-state and out-of-state. Ron felt so proud to participate in the marriages of both Vince and Angie. With the addition of Angie’s husband Saul and Vince’s wife Ali, his children grew to four and he loved all of them dearly. Much of his and Mary’s retired life was spent visiting or traveling with them to the Florida Keys, Colorado, Nevada, Oregon, Hawaii and Alaska.
Ron will be remembered by family, friends and neighbors for his love of family, generous spirit, kind-heartedness, willingness to help others and of course his humorous witty comments. While not an active participant at church, Ron was a believer and so very much enjoyed his wife Mary’s involvement with Cherry Creek’s children’s ministry.
Ron leaves behind his wife Mary, son Vincent (Ali) Prange, daughter Angie Pineda (Saul), 8-month-old granddaughter Enya Pineda, and many cousins and their families.
