Ronald K. Hodel

Ronald Keith Hodel was born November 8, 1928, in Freeport, Illinois, the same year as Mickey Mouse. He was baptized and confirmed at St. Paul's Lutheran Church in Rockford, Illinois. Growing up in the small city of Rockford, Ron enjoyed building go-carts, playing kick-the-can and swinging on a rope-bag-swing out over a cliff in the town park. He also shot BB guns which led to him being shot in the right-eye when he was 15. Although he lost most of his vision in the eye, he never let it bother him. Ron especially loved spending time with his grandparents and had a warm Sunday dinner with them in Freeport every week (something which he insisted on doing with his own children and grandkids). He liked cars and sports, and enjoyed pole-vaulting in high-school. He also loved going to movie serials on Saturdays and Sundays which started a life-long enjoyment of movies, which he passed on to his family. Some of his favorites were Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Stagecoach, Chariots of Fire, Young Frankenstein, What's up Doc, The Last Flight of Noah’s Ark, Dr. Strangelove, Hoosiers, Sabrina (1995), You’ve got Mail and The Rocketeer.

As his father died when he was six, he was raised by his mother, older brother Ockie and his Uncle Oscar. Oscar helped guide the boys, making sure they and their mother were fed, sheltered and educated. Growing up in their Oscar's pharmacy, each of the Hodel boys eventually studied to be pharmacists themselves. Ron began studying pharmacy at the University of Illinois but when his brother Merwin got a scholarship to play football, he transferred to the University of Colorado in Boulder so he could watch his brother play football. Merwin was the star running back on the team and was later drafted by the New York Giants in the 4th round in 1952.

Ron met Lorraine Miller in 1949 at the soda fountain in his brother Ockie's drug store in Belvedere, Lorraine's home town. Soon after, she asked him on the church sleigh ride and the rest is history. Ron and Lorraine had a lot to talk about as they were both Lutherans and Lorraine was already a nurse, having graduated from Lutheran Deaconess Hospital in Chicago in 1947. After graduating CU, Ron was drafted by a different team called the US Army in which he served for two years between 1951-1953. He did his basic training at Fort Leonard Wood in Missouri and was later stationed at Camp Atterbury in Indiana where he ran the camp pharmacy and trained other pharmacists to go manage pharmacies in Korea. Dad was lucky to stay stateside during the war. On their time off, he and Lorraine would visit each other.

After being discharged from the Army, they were married the next day at Immanuel Lutheran Church in Belvedere, Illinois, February 1, 1953. They honeymooned in Estes Park, Colorado and Rocky Mountain National Park. After working for a brief time for Uncle in Rockford, the two moved to Evanston, IL, for two years, where Ron worked at three different drug stores and Lorraine was a nurse at St. Francis Hospital. In 1955, they moved to Colorado and where he and his brother Merwin opened a drug store on Colorado Blvd. In 1959, they opened the second drug store in Bear Valley. Merwin would go on to run the Colorado Blvd. pharmacy while Ron ran the Bear Valley store.

The family would grow to seven including Ronald, Loraine and children Ronald (1955), Susan (1959), Katie (1963) David (1965) and Jonathan (1968). They enjoyed spending time with their children's families, including eight grandkids and five great great-grandkids.

Ron served on the board of directors of Denver Lutheran High School and was always active at church. Ron enjoyed sailing with his son Ron, going to Bronco and Nugget games with his daughter Susan and going swimming and skiing with the entire family. Even before retiring, Ron and Lorraine would often travel, having purchased Continental Airlines Passes which allowed them to travel as much as they wanted. They enjoyed trips to California and Disneyland, Europe and Hawaii, but mainly to see the kids and his uncle Oscar in Florida and Illinois. Having already sold the store a short time before, Ron retired in the summer of 1990. They continued to travel and live at their family home for many years. Late in life, Ron was diagnosed with Parkinson's. He enjoyed spending time with his family and grandkids as well as reading, looking at pictures, listening to music and watching movies on his iPad. Ron lost Lorraine, the love of his life, June 9, 2017. He continued to live at home with his sons David and Jonathan until he died a little over a month after his 90th birthday from an infection, December 21, 2018, 81 years to the date after Disney's Snow White had its premiere.

A Funeral Service for Ronald will be held at Holy Cross Lutheran Church, 9770 S. Foothills Canyon Road, on Tuesday 1/1/2019 at 10:30 am.

Please share memories and condolences in the online guestbook below.

Funeral Service: January 1, 2019 10:30 am

Holy Cross Lutheran Church
9770 Foothills Canyon Blvd
Highlands Ranch, CO 80129
(303) 423-5654