Ronald Frederick Soens

Ronald F. Soens “Ron” of Haxtun CO. went to be with the Lord, Monday morning Aug. 19, 2019 at the age of 84. He was born to Fred and Dorothy (Nesgaard) Soens, July 21, 1935 in Racine, Wisconsin.   Ron was blessed to live with his grandparents in Wisconsin up until the time that he moved to Edgewater, CO the summer before his senior year of High School.  Soon after graduating from Edgewater High School, he joined the United States Marine Corps where he received special training for Airplane and Jet Engine Mechanic.  Ron was recognized for his Good conduct medal, Marksmanship award, national defense medal and was honorably discharged on April 1, 1959. 

While in the Marine Corps, Ron married Susan Rhodes to which 4 children were born.  Several years after his divorce Ron married Jerilyn ‘Jeri’ Dally in May of 1970 and soon after, their two families were meshed together and became one.

While living in Wisconsin, Ron developed a deep love for sailing and was an active member of the Racine Yacht Club for many years.  He and his grandfather would sail Lake Michigan, fishing the countless coves and pools all along the way.  Throughout his lifetime Ron’s passion for sailing never waned and in 1996, with wife Jeri as his first mate, they purchased a Catalina 25 and named it “Uff-da”. Now with his new crew at his side he sailed in the Lake McConaughey Governor’s Cup, the Catalina 25 Regatta at Colorado’s Carter Lake and others, where he brought home trophies and wonderful memories of his sailing adventures. 

Ron had many hobbies and interests, among them was wood working.  Not only could he build just about anything from doll cradles to finely crafted furniture, he could truly fix just about anything and everything and he was known to be the “fix-it man”.

Among his many accomplishments and attributes was his tremendous work ethic and ability to do anything that he put his mind to.  Ron was privileged and honored to serve as one of the test engineers for the first NASA Apollo mission. Later he worked as a mechanic for Beech Aircraft. While working at Beech Aircraft he received acknowledgement as being ‘1 of 8, from 362 Beechcrafters who have served Beech Aircraft Corp. for five years or more.’  Ron was an engineer at Ball Aerospace, as well as a design engineer for Otis Elevator.  In the early 70’s Ron work for the Department of The Interior Bureau of Mines. In 1983 he and his wife Jeri purchased “The Store” in Lewellen, NE where he became famous for his homemade sausage and smoked pork chops. In addition to the grocery store they put in a Laundry-mat called the “Suds and Duds”. In addition to being a successful local business owner, Ron presided as the mayor of Lewellen for several years as well.

After retiring, Ron focused his time on supporting his wife in ministry.

Ron always had a smile or as his wife would say a “smirk” and will be missed by all.

Ron is survived by his wife Jeri of 49 years

Sons: Ron Jr. (Lisa) Soens; 

Stephen (Cheri Delgado) Soens

Daughters: Stephanie (Tom) Maflin; 

Tammy (Jacob) Ormsby; 

Cheri (Michael) Strawbridge; 

Machel (Gary) Gauthier.

Grandchildren: Dustin, Casey, Corey and Anthony Soens; 

                            Mason Delgado; 

                            Melissa, Sandra, Annalicia, and Jonathan

                            Shawn and Zack  

                            Nicholas and Robert

                            Joshua and Ryan

Great-Grandchildren:  Brooklyn, Mason, Abigail, Joshua, Madison, Landon, Rebekah, Hailey, Bryson, Nevaeh, and Isabella

Brother-in-law: Fred (Deb) Dally; Rick (Lola) Dally; Jim (Bev) Dally; Bernie (Jana)Dally,

Sister-in-law: Pat (Jim) Miller

Ron is preceded in death by his parents, grandparents and brother-in law Allen Dally.

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