Remembering Ron McKitrick

One night last month, Melody’s mom left a message. We found that she had done the same with Melody’s brother and sister, but no one was able to reach her. Melody finally connected and found out that Jean’s husband Ron had leukemia and didn’t have long to live. He passed away not long after, with all of his kids around him.

I met Ron McKitrick not long before Melody and I were married. One of the first times he and Jean came to the house, my sons were tossing a baseball in the back yard. Ron eagerly grabbed a glove and seemed to have a great time playing catch with them. It was much later that I found out he was a pitcher in school, which was but one of his passions.

When you first walked into Ron and Jean’s house in Yakima, something seemed different. It didn’t take long to realize that the walls were covered with paintings. There were many landscapes, but you would see lots of still life, too. There were several styles and sizes, and you realized that Ron had painted all of them. Walk around the house, and you would see more. It’s hard to imagine just how prolific he was since he hadn’t painted much in his later years.

If you went to the back porch, you would see what was probably Ron’s greatest passion, his cactus garden. It covers the lion’s share of the quite large back yard and includes a couple of greenhouses. If you went in winter, you would see some of the larger plants covered for the winter. During the summer, many would be in bloom. The plants ranged from small succulents to a couple of large yucca trees. One year he had an agave that had a blossom stalk that must have been well over 25 feet tall. He hosted several tours and was even on a gardening show on Seattle TV.

Ron would talk as long as you wanted about his passions, but he was humble; you would hear about parts of his past only if you asked, or read his obituary. From what I’ve heard, he essentially raised his kids (he has five) as a single parent. He kept up with Jean in hiking, skiing, and dancing, at least for quite a while. In the past few years, he seemed to discover that he enjoyed traveling. A while ago someone told him about Dubrovnik, and he was eager to see pictures from when we went. He did make it there and was excited to see it himself.

We were happy to host Ron and Jean when they came to Seattle for the opera or dancing. They hadn’t been able to make it as often in recent years, but we were able to see them on the other side of the Cascades. As sad as we were to hear of Ron’s passing, it’s comforting to know that he left quite a legacy and will be fondly remembered.