Ronald B. Core

December 30, 1936 — April 26, 2024

Ronald Core

Service Details

The Earthly journey of Ronald Bruce Core ended on April 26, 2024.

“Ronnie” was born during the depths of the Great Depression to Clyde and Wilma Core who were farming near the small and now underwater town of Red Rock, Iowa at the time of his birth on December 30, 1936. During the first chapters of his life, he was the consummate Iowa farm boy. He would rise before the sun to get started milking the herd of Hereford cows and doing chores before heading off to school only to return home in the afternoon to repeat the never-ending cycle of work. In addition to his parents, Ron was joined growing up by an older brother Richard and younger sister Nancy. High school sports offered a bit of a respite from the routine of farm labor. “Moose” Core was a member of a state championship indoor track team and was a medalist in the two-mile relay. He was also an interior lineman on the Pleasantville Trojans High School football team back in the days before face masks and as a result left several of his teeth behind on Marion County gridirons. Many years later, Ronnie was inducted into the Pleasantville High School Athletics Hall of Fame.

After brief stints in both college and the United States Army, Ron began his lifelong quest to always be his own boss. Very fortunately for him, his sister set him up on a blind date with a cute girl from the nearby town of Hartford. After a brief fling with Janet Meyer, the two were married in her hometown on an extremely foggy day on the Saturday after Thanksgiving 1960. Legend has it that after the minister pronounced them husband and wife, the kiss was so prolonged and passionate that more than a few gasps emanated from the congregation.

Their honeymoon was courtesy of Uncle Sam as Ron had been called back into military service and ordered to report to Fort Ord, California. Jan went with him and after pulling his tour of duty, he began his career in business. After a couple of fun and carefree years in the Bay Area, Ron and Jan made the highly dubious decision to move from northern California to back to Iowa. Shortly thereafter, sons Mark and Michael joined the family while Ron and Jan began as partners in a series of highly successful proprietary enterprises, highlighted by 32 years in Hampton, IA.

Ron was an attentive husband, loving father, community and church leader, and businessman known for the highest level of integrity. More or less coinciding with retirement came the addition of several grandchildren and great grandchildren. Along with his desire to be his own boss, his often repeated mantra was that he wanted to retire to a place where he would never see snow again. Ron and Jan fulfilled that desire by enjoying a long, active and happy retirement in rural Central Florida. It was during their last few years in Florida that Ron’s greatest act of service occurred. As a result of Jan’s debilitating illness, he became her 24/7 caregiver. He never relented in his devotion to her care right up until the minute of her death the day after Christmas 2019. This extraordinary act of love was despite his worsening condition due to Alzheimer’s which ultimately required one last return to Iowa in the summer of 2020.

Ronald was preceded in death by his wife Janet, parents Clyde and Wilma, parents-in-law Frank and Velma, sister Nancy, brother-in-law Jerry, and sister-in-law Judith. He is survived by brother Richard (Judy) Core, sister-in-law Jo Suzanne (Scott) Deffenbaugh, sons Mark (Mary) and Michael (Simone), grandchildren Claire, Elizabeth, Jacob, Emily, Nicholas and Lucas as well as a large number of great grandchildren, cousins, nieces and nephews. Ron will be laid to rest near his parents in the Pleasant Gove Cemetery in Pleasantville.

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