Ronald Earl PLETCHER

PLETCHER, PLETCHER-BLAZEVICH, BLAZEVICH, LONG, KNUTSON, HOWARD, BERBACH

Posted By: Sarah Thorson Little (email)
Date: 9/18/2011 at 16:50:12

March 31, 1943 -- September 13, 2011

Ronald Earl Pletcher, of Molt, Montana died Tuesday, Sept. 13, 2011, at the Billings [Montana] Clinic. Ron was born in Clarion, Iowa, on March 31, 1943, to Earl and Doris Pletcher, and was one of four children. Ron spent his youth in Estes Park, Colo., and graduated from Estes Park High School in 1961. He loved climbing in the Colorado Rockies and was able to climb every mountain in Rocky Mountain National Park while attending college at Colorado School of Mines. He graduated Tau Beta Pi and earned a Silver Diploma in Petroleum Refining Engineering. He married his wife Gail in 1964 in Golden, Colo. and went to work for UOP where he and Gail had assignments in the U.S., Caribbean, and Italy.

Ron accepted an assignment with the Cenex Refinery and moved to Laurel in 1968. He held numerous positions at the refinery and worked as the refinery manager until his retirement. Ron loved to hunt and fish and spent much of his retirement fly fishing in exotic locations such as Alaska, British Columbia, Cuba, Chile and Argentina. He also enjoyed watching old movies and country music.

Ron is survived by his wife Gail, daughter Kim (Mark) Pletcher-Blazevich of Annapolis, Md., Eric (Leah) Pletcher of Doha, Qatar; grandchildren Cole and Quade Blazevich and Jacob, Matthew, and Jesse Pletcher; sister Donna Long, brothers-in-law Jerry Knutson, Garvin (Peg) Howard, sister-in-law Joyce (Bruce) Berbach and numerous nieces and nephews. Cremation has taken place, and private family services will be held at a later date. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the Lutheran Association of Missionaries and Pilots U.S., 3525 North 124th St., Suite 1, Brookfield, WI 53005-2498. Smith Funeral Chapel-Laurel, was in charge of cremation.

15 September 2011
Estes Park News - Estes Park, Colorado and
Billings Gazette - Billings, Montana