Ronald C. Wirfs
November 25, 1945 ~ December 11, 2007
Ronald Craig Wirfs, 62 of Mount Vernon, died in his home Tuesday, December 11, 2007 from prostate cancer. Celebration of Life will be at 2:00 p.m., Saturday at the Morgan Funeral and Cremation Choices, Mount Vernon Chapel, where the family will greet friends after 1:00 p.m. Burial at 10:00 a.m. Saturday at St. Martin Cemetery, Cascade, with military rites. Ron is survived by his children Julia Neff of North Liberty; Rich and Becky, and their children, Mitchell and Kennedy of Mount Vernon; Sarah Wirfs, and her children, Tristan and Kaylia of Mount Vernon; Jessica Wirfs of Cedar Rapids; and their mother Sylvia Wirfs of Mount Vernon, companion Janet Volesky and her children Teresa, Tara, and Travis of Fairfax, siblings Delores Ewing of Oxford Junction; Gary of Okinawa, Japan; Barbara Mease of Cambridge, Iowa and Michelle Moeller of Cedar Rapids. He is also survived by many nieces, nephews, cousins and friends of Bill W. Preceding Ron in death were his parents Richard Wirfs and Margaret Egoscue Johnston, brother Patrick Rowan, nephew John Mease and his daughter Hailey. Ronald was born November 25, 1945 in Forest Grove, Oregon. He graduated from Dugway, Utah, High School in 1964 and continued his education through out his life. He enlisted in the U.S. Air Force in 1964. He was honorably discharged for a family hardship and returned to Iowa. Among his many occupations were road construction and concrete finishing, welder and mechanic, logger and over the road truck driver. Ron owned and operated Wirfs Construction for eighteen years, retiring due to ill health in October of 2006. A turning point in Ron's life was his introduction to Alcoholics Anonymous. The people and the principles of this program gave him back his life. Ron practiced the AA principle "You've got to give it away to keep it" through sponsorship, service work and "just showing up." Just prior to his death, he celebrated eighteen years of sobriety. Ron was an avid reader, ranging from authors Rumi, a Sufi poet, to Louis Lamour, to Stephen King. He had a keen interest in human rights, politics, and history. Ron had been described as a "philosopher without credentials." He was both a student and teacher of Life. He had a profound influence on the lives of many. He will be greatly missed. A memorial fund has been established. Online condolences: www.morganfuneralchoices.com Morgan Funeral Home is located on the corner of 10th Ave. S.W., and Highway 30 across from the car dealership in Mount Vernon.
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Even though i was older, Ron was my older brother and I always loved to talk to him about many things. He had so much wisdom and was a good listener. He was loved by many and will be missed by all. I am so proud of what he accomplished with his life and i admired his love for his family and friends. I will miss you Ron, but you are still with me and i can talk to you anytime now. Your sister, Dee
Oh dad, I/we are so saddend by your passing, and at the same time so blessed to have had you in our lives, but especially for us kids to have had you for a father. I couldn’t have asked for a better person to have as a dad, as a mentor, as a teacher of life, as a friend. You were always there to listen, to give advice, to offer an opinion, to support us, or to help in a variety of ways. It may have been helping to fix something in our houses, it might have been repairing our cars, or fixing a mower, or any number of things. What ever the case, you were there to help without complaint. We have learned alot about how to treat people right and how to accept others as they are from you. I will continue to look to you for help, strength, and advice and do my best to practice what you lived. I love you dad. Your son, Rich
To all of my Wirfs family – Ron was my uncle and we are so sad here in North Carolina. Wish so much we could come and be a part of his memorial service to comfort you all and receive it too. I am so thankful I was able to see him for one beautiful day this past summer. I will miss his awesome hugs, his smile and laughter, his ability to listen, and the way he always, “told it like it is”. Love, Lis
Ron was a shining light for me early on – I always appreciated what he had to say and I will miss him. He did love music. The last time I saw him was in Tama at the Bluegrass Cafe not too long ago – May his light shine on in all of us.
To Ron’s family, our condolences. We got to know Ron over several months while he was working on our basement. Besides being an excellent craftsman who could do anything, he was a prolific reader and followed politics and government with keen interest. We had many lively discussions during that time, although I think we mainly fed each other’s indignation at the sorry state our nation has come to. We’re sorry we didn’t come to the memorial, but we only heard about it Saturday evening. Dixie said it above… Ron was one of a kind, and the world is now quite a bit less ornery than it was last week. We are better for having known him. With sadness, Bill & Lori Niemi
to Ron’s children, his siblings and my sister Janet: Please accept my deepest and most sincere sympathies. Ron was a good man. I always enjoyed our conversations and will hold close the afternoon i got to spend talking with him at Kristie’s house in Lisbon last summer. Val and I liked Ron, of course. We also respected him. He was real and genuine. Like I said, a good man. We are saddened by his passing. Though our sense of loss cannot be compared to yours, please know we share your loss. sincerely Rick and Val Harover
Dad, There are so many things to say I don’t even know where to start. You in so many ways made me the person I am today. You taught me to always ask questions and think of things from different perspectives, to believe in my abilities and to value myself as a person. You always said I don’t have to take a back seat to anyone and I’m grateful for you reminding me of that when I was going thru hard times. It’s so hard to have you gone physically. It hurts to the core of my being to know that I won’t be able to hug you or hear your voice ever again. You brought so many great things to my life and the lives of others. You were one of a kind and the only Dad I could ever imagine having. I’m going to miss the 3 hour dinners and our chin fest’s during those dinners. I enjoyed those more than you’ll ever know. I love you so much Dad, and I’ll be talkin to ya. Love,Jess
When I think of Ron, I see him coasting down a snow covered hill with a cigarette dangling from his mouth, smiling with a grin that made you believe he knew something you didn’t. He almost always did. We sorted out a lot of my problems sitting in his van or at his kitchen table. I was in college at the time, 1992, and I was really struggling to stay sober. I called Ron one morning at 3 a.m. and he listened clamly and gave me some simple advice. “You’re on the train John, and you can’t get off until the conductor let’s you.” I was glad to be on the train with Ron. He was a kind man who never hesitated to share his faults with you if he thought it would help. And help he did. It’s amazing to think of all the people he helped without ever meeting them. Mostly by helping people like me. I’m sure I passed his advice on to two dozen young guys looking to get sober. I’ll miss you Ron, but it makes me happy to know that your advice and kind words live on with all the sober people I’ve shared them with.
R, A while back I found the post card you sent me from the Oregon coast in 1992. It has the image of Haystack rock and the Needles, three large boulders which jet out at the oceans edge and are illuminated by the sunset. You wrote “Hi Miss, How the hell are you anyway? Are you keeping everyone on their toes? Somebody has to do it. Check out this extremely spooky, Romantic setting. This is where the vampires bring their girl friends so they can bite their necks & stuff in solitude. Enjoy! Love, R” The funny thing is I went to Portland last year and we drove home down HWY 101, along the coast. I felt like I had been there before. You always encouraged me to go with my gut. You probably loved it there because low and behold there were these huge picturesque boulders I pointed out to my kids. I was listening to the radio today and Christopher Cross “Sailing” came on. I had a good cry. For whatever reason, in the years leading to your passing, I was not in your life. You have almost always been in mine though. Thank you for making me redo the dishes(all of them in the whole house) so I would learn to have pride, Thank you for sharing your love of literature with me and encouraging me to read Poetry and Fiction. Thank you for always accepting me, even if I was really rotten and mean because I had Daddy issues. Thank you for buying me pork sausage Pizza Hut deep dish pizza and letting me chill without my sisters at your apartment because you KNEW I just needed a break. Thank you for always being honest. Thank you for teaching me I was never better than anyone else and to always be a hard worker. Thank you for all of the laughs and the silly dances. Thanks for introducing me to Star Wars(or at least not making me go to bed). Most of all, Thank you for being there. In a time when there was little consistency and everyone was stretched to their limits. You were able to be all for all. I am a better person because of you. I miss you.
Your birthday will be in 15 days. We are about to approach the 6th year of life with out you. We are going to Cascade today to see you… You were a pivotal piece of my life. You were a soul mate for my mom and a role model for me. I still think of you often. I bought a house a couple years ago and thought if only Ron were here to tell me if I am making a good purchase. This past year I got married. I had your photo up in memorial. I did cry that you weren’t here, but Mom reminded me that you were here and she brought some of your things to have here on my special day. I wish my husband would have gotten to meet you, he would have loved you. That’s the thing, most people that met you had such respect for you and your knowledge and wisdom and you also had a great sense of humor. I only have one regret so far in my life. I regret not being able to communicate my feelings with you and to tell you how much I loved you and looked up to you. In a lot of ways you were my hero. I talk to you a lot, yep I am the one that is still asking for your help. The pain does not go away I am still just as sad that your gone. But I carry all the advice and wisdom that you shared. And I still quote one of the best pieces of advice you ever gave me. ” F*ck em’ ” I love you very much, Tara