Ronald G. Bennett

Dearest Family and Friends,

It is with heavy, but relieved, hearts that we tell you our beloved Ron, age 78, transitioned peacefully and joyfully from our home into God’s arms on March 14, 2021, due to complications of Alzheimer’s disease. How appropriate that he took his last breath on a Sunday evening, the Lord’s Day. While those of us who are left behind will always feel a deep and compellingly tender void, we are grateful beyond measure for the blessing of Ron in all of our lives.

Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord

And has made the Lord their hope and confidence.

He is like a tree planted along a riverbank

That sends out its roots, reaching deep into the water.

Such trees are not bothered when heat comes

Or anxious by the long months of drought,

Because their leaves stay green

And they will never cease to bear fruit.

Jeremiah 12: 7-8 

This is the verse embossed on the front cover of Ron’s bible. A Bible he regularly read, referenced for wisdom, and so frequently found solace in.  Above all, Ron was a devout and practicing Christian his entire life; his deep and abiding faith defined the foundation of his character and the navigation behind the purposes with which he aligned. His core Christian values informed his principles and guided his priorities with his family, friends, colleagues, and in the many communities in which he served, in a profoundly positive manner. Ron was the quintessential example of a person who endured unimaginable hardships in his life, but whose abundant strength and resiliency directly came from his abundant trust in God.

Born as a fraternal twin (his beloved brother, Robert [“Bob” who is all of 4 minutes older], wife Joann [born 1943], son Jay [born 1966], his wife Laurie [born 1968], and son David [1969-1991]), Ron and Bob were raised in Minnesota by two wonderful parents, Verdell (1916-2006) and Ernst (1908-1945). Their family was the epitome of a lovingly devoted, Christ-centered unit until tragedy struck and Ernst was killed in a traffic accident when the boys were only two years old. For the next two decades, Verdell, herself a woman of amazing fortitude and deep faith, did her best to raise and educate her sons, but the family faced financial, relational, and circumstantial insecurities resulting in many difficult and traumatic hardships for the trio.

Despite the odds, both Ron and Bob developed into stellar young men, graduating from the University of Minnesota (classes of 1966 and 1965), going on to receive graduate degrees at the University of Southern California, (Ron with a Doctorate in Educational Leadership [Ed.D] in 1990, Bob with an MBA in1972). Armed with these first-rate educations and their well-honed grit and work ethic, both launched into long professional leadership careers, with Ron choosing 40 years in public service as an educator, beginning as a classroom teacher, and spending the last 20 years as Assistant Superintendent, Deputy Superintendent and, ultimately, Superintendent in five progressively larger school districts. Ron’s leadership across the decades could best be characterized by his razor-sharp visionary abilities, innovative trouble-shooting capacity, excellent interpersonal skills, respectful collaborative spirit, keen sense of humor wrapped around his gregarious nature, and enormous heart for marginalized, underserved, and struggling students.

In his personal life, Ron was first married to Sandra (1946-1979) for 13 years and together they were blessed with a truly bright, engaging, and radiant little boy, Jeffrey (1974-1979). Tragedy struck again, in a particularly premature and cruel way, when Sandy succumbed to a three-year breast cancer battle and Jeff was struck and killed by a vehicle later the same year. In a matter of months, at age 36, Ron was widowed and buried his only child. Many of you, our dear Fountain Valley neighbors at the time, carried Ron through this impossibly challenging time.

The depth and width of Ron’s grief was only able to be navigated by the conviction and peace found in his faith. Those early and profound losses allowed Ron to walk in the shoes of hundreds of grief-stricken people with whom he interfaced throughout the next decades and then brought Ron to his post-retirement volunteer role, serving as Saddleback Church’s Grief Ministry Director for 12 years, prior to stepping down when his Alzheimer’s advanced in 2019.

In 2016, while serving in that leadership role, Ron was beyond humbled to be given “The Giant Killer Leadership Award,” with these words written on the bottom:

“This award is given by Saddleback Church to an outstanding member who has shown courageous leadership in problem-solving and serving the needs of others. The winner is selected from a pool of over 25,000 volunteers who serve in over 500 community ministries. The title of the award refers to the Bible story of how David showed courage in standing up to the giant Goliath in battle from 1 Samuel 17.” 

Of all the generous commendations Ron has received in his many roles, this was likely the most meaningful one, simply because it reflects his own indomitable “comeback” spirit and the way in which he continuously encouraged others to press on, no matter the circumstances.

When Ron was 38, he and I married and God was gracious to give us a second chance at creating a family. The births of Brandon (born 1983, wife Maureen [born 1984]) and Lauren (1987, husband Jay [born 1983]) were, and continue to be, the greatest blessings we have experienced in our 40 years of marriage. With the arrival of our children, our family was fortunate to expand to include our dear Weinnie, who started as the children’s nanny and was quickly “promoted” to their Godmother and lifelong honorary family member. Twelve years ago, we were further blessed by the addition of our precious “adopted” granddaughter, Madeline Tourtlotte, who is now a beautiful, brilliant higher schooler, with her eye on entering college as a pre-med major. Her parents, Stacey Henning and Dave Tourtlotte,  are among our many dear “chosen family” members through Saddleback Church’s Small Group Bible Study program, with whom we have formed deep and abiding relationships throughout our 25 years of church membership. Together, with other dear small group members like the Wheelers and the Corsos, we have banded together through life’s adventures and challenges.

Ron is, and will always be, the love of my life. Because he was a young widower, many of you know our unconventional love story, but suffice it to say, when you fully take in the extraordinary qualities of this man, I could not have been more fortunate to marry him. Audrey Hepburn once said, “The best thing to hold onto in life is each other”… and that is what Ron and I did in building a faithful marriage and loving family. From our impoverished childhood backgrounds, Ron and I were so grateful to build a “more than we could have dreamed for future” together. I am so incredibly humbled to have been Ron’s second life partner; he has truly given me “the time of my life.”

Austrian psychiatrist, Viktor Frankl wrote, “happiness cannot be attained by wanting to be happy, but rather, by having it come as an unintended consequence of working for a goal greater than oneself.” Our family has been so blessed to be both recipients and witnesses of Ron’s loving, sacrificial, and completely other-centered, servant devotion to all those in his sight, regardless of their story, station, or status. Truly, I have never known anyone as selfless, genuine, humble, and trustworthy as Ron Bennett.

I have said on more than one occasion that capturing the essence of Ron, both professionally and personally, boils down to the three Rs:

Foremost, there was the “Reverend Ron.” The man who was always so crystallized in his values, visionary in his directives, and respectful toward the opinions of others, that the projection of his leadership was clear and unassailable.

Second, there was the “Resilient Ron.” The man who exuded optimism, reached down deep for strength, sparked the most creative and ingenious resolutions, and, hands down, had the God-inspired ability to negotiate the most challenging of adversities, while we all stood in awe and watched.

Third, there was the “Rock and Roll Ron.” From his endearing humor to his mischievous and legendary pranks. From his numerous artistic, construction, and athletic talents to his love of adventure and calculated (or not) risk-taking. Ron never backed down from a good-natured challenge and was always the first one to buy the celebratory round of drinks, regardless of what side he was on.

So here’s the take-away…everyone started out gravitating to “Rock and Roll Ron,” but all grew to be life-long friends and colleagues because they came to deeply admire the first two “Rs” in the equation.

I would be remiss if I did not mention the way in which Ron faced this last difficult chapter of his remarkable life. When he was given his Alzheimer’s diagnosis in April 2013, many of you received this letter: