Ronald William Meinel

Ronald William Meinel, 83, of Puyallup, Washington, passed away peacefully surrounded by his family on Friday, July 21, 2017, at the Paragon Adult Family Home in Puyallup. Ron was born March 13, 1934, in Portland, Oregon. He grew up in the Farmington area where he was raised by his father and close family friends Charles and Mary Clark and their daughter, Bonnie, who Ron remained close to until his death. He graduated from Hillsboro High School in 1952 and attended Portland State University for two years. He then enlisted in the Army and served two years as an Antiaircraft Artilleryman which included a tour in Alaska. He graduated from Whittier College in 1959 with a degree in Geology, where he met his future bride Margarita Sepulveda at a school social. They married December 18, 1958 and was a loving, attentive and devoted husband throughout their years together. Ron and Margarita had three children and lived in the Sacramento, California area (with a brief stay in Hawaii in 1960). In July 1969 he moved his family to the Seattle area to work for the Mutual Materials Company. He retired from the company after thirty years as Vice President of Production, overseeing brick manufacturing plants throughout the Pacific Northwest. Before his retirement he built their dream home on 36 acres in Toledo, Washington, where they spent their retirement years until 2015 when they moved to Puyallup, Washington. In addition to being a loving husband, father and brother, Ron had a wide range of interests and activities. He enjoyed camping, astronomy, fine carpentry, and weather watching and volunteered with the Boy Scouts. Some of his children’s best memories were their three-week long camping vacations the family took across the Western U.S and Canada, and frequent camping trips to Ocean Shores, Yosemite and Mt. Rainier. He was also an avid reader with a keen interest in history, science, and science fiction. During his retirement years he enjoyed being the “gentleman farmer,” watching his grandchildren grow up, and being active with the Cowlitz Prairie Grange - Ron particularly enjoyed helping with the annual Threshing Bee. He was a man of integrity, commitment and character and will be missed dearly by all who knew him. Ron is survived by his wife Margarita of 58 years, son James (Amber) Meinel, daughters Judy (David) Hankins and Linda Goodwin; sister of the heart Bonnie (Clark) Petersen, half-brothers Bill (Marsha), Dennis, Ricky (Charlyn), Donald, step-sisters Linda and Noana; grandchildren Patrick and Emily Meinel, Jeff (Katie), Matt (Thoa) and Daniel Hankins, Andrew, Alex and Tim Goodwin; and great-grandchildren Cesare and Alki Meinel and Carolyn Hankins, and numerous nieces and nephews in Hawaii. He was preceded in death by his parents William George and Emma Alice (Snawder) Meinel, half-brother Lee Alkire Jr. step-brothers Daniel, Joseph and Wesley, son-in-law Ken Goodwin, and daughter-in-law Jenae (Kemp) Meinel. A private military internment for family will be held Friday, August 18, 2017 at the Tahoma Military Cemetery in Kent, WA. A Celebration of Life will be held on Saturday, August 19, 2017, from 11:00 am to 3:00 pm at the Paragon AFH, 710 25th St., Puyallup, WA 98372. Arrangements are by Curnow Funeral Home, 1504 Main St., Sumner, WA 98390, (253) 863-2800. Memorial donations may be made to the Lewy Body Dementia Association at www.lbda.org or to your local Food Bank. The family would also like to thank the staff at Good Samaritan Hospice of Puyallup and the Paragon Adult Family Home for their care and comfort.