tough day at ESW (sad)

Was the 8th of June 1993, having just left the Army and looking for a job fate found me in the parking lot of England's Stove Works. I was looking for Ron England, a man I had never met but one who my father had a lot of respect for having worked with him back in the early 70's in a paper mill nearby.
A truck pulls up and this fellow gets out heading towards the door to the office. I walk up and ask "hey man, can you tell me where I can find Ron England?" he said "Im Ron",he snorts (as he did a lot)
"who the hell are you?" I introduced myself, he says "ohh your JD's boy, come on in here." we spoke for a bit , he asked me what I knew about pellet stoves, I told him (honestly) I didn't know what a pellet stove was , but I grew up with one of his woodstoves, he said , well the less you know the better less bad habits to deal with. long story short , he hired me that day and thus began a relationship that lasted 21 years and ten days. During that time he went from being my boss, to my mentor to my friend (without having any issue at all reminding me he was still my boss)to practically family. Other than my own father who I treasure more than anyone else there has been no man who has had a greater impact on my adult life. He gave me guidance on the industry while at the same time allowed me enough autonomy to learn as I worked for him. during this time the company grew to become one of the largest manufacturers in the industry under his leadership.
Going back to the day Ron and I met I found out his father was in the hospital with cancer, Bob England died a few months after I started there. I never got to meet him though my dad knew his well also. was in retrospect a loss for me having spent so much time with Ron and his family.
Today came a far greater loss. my boss, friend, mentor , adopted "uncle" practically a hero to me, passed away. Ron lost his own battle with cancer this morning. I found out about 9 this morning via a text from Andy over at AMFM i was in my shop at the south plant fixing a stove that had a problem and was pulled from the assembly line. after reading the text message , I just stood there looking at the stove lid flipped up welding lead in my hand for a minute or two, flipped my lid back down stuck my head in the stove and realized I couldn't see what I was doing. came back out stripped my gear and stepped outside sat down in the grass and cried like a baby.
Ron England is survived by his wife Vera, his daughters Tracie and Molly, and a factory full of people who dearly loved him.

 

Thanks Mike for letting us know. Sorry for the loss of your friend and mentor.

Eternal Rest grant into him O Lord and let Perpetual Light shine upon him. May his soul and the souls of all the faithful departed, through the Mercy of God, rest in Peace.

 

Sorry for your loss.

 

Thru you I feel like I knew him. Thanks Mike and our condolences.

Gary

 

Sorry for your loss mike. That was a very touching story and i'll admit i got a little choked up reading the last few lines.

 

Sorry to hear that. Even though we know the facts of life it's still hard when somebody passes.

 

Mike, sympathy extended from up here in Ontario. Cancer is a terrible disease. We all have lost family and friends to it.
My wife works the Cancer Society here in Ontario. We continually work hard to raise the funding for both research and client services i.e. transportation services for those undergoing treatment, etc. We ask people to "Fight the Fight" any way they can. Hopefully someday this horrible disease will be beaten.

 

Dam screen got awful fuzzy in a hurry here... very sorry for your loss Mike. Your life was affected deeply by this man and it was all good. Brought back my feelings of losing my father 24 years ago now from cancer (feels like yesterday). If we're lucky, we're all blessed with someone in our lives who makes a difference and connects like no other. Hope you can get to just the good memories as soon as possible. Sounds like he'd like that.

 

Mike, condolences to Ron's family, which obviously includes you.

 

Sorry to hear. RIP

 

Sad news, take care Mike.

 

thanks rottiman, and thanks as well to those who have also responded.

also, if you would rottiman, give your wife an extra hug for me and thank her for her work. we started this year working with our local "Relay for Life" donating a pellet grill for raffles with the entire proceeds going to the relay fund. I suspect this may be an annual thing now.

 

46 is way too young. Sorry to hear your friend was taken by cancer as well. Pancreatic cancer is what took my father at 79. Sure would be great if they ever find cures for these hideous diseases.

 

My condolences to you and all

 

Have a 50 yo close friend who is battling terminal Multiple Mylenoma right now. If that isn't enough to deal with, his wife was diagnosed two weeks ago with stage 2 breast cancer. They have 2 boys in high school. .......and we think we may have daily life problems?