Roland Harlan Ronken, "Ron", 95, of rural Butte County died March 15, 2020 at his home of natural causes.

Ron was born in Tacoma, Washington, August 10, 1924, the only child of Harlan Kenneth and Laura (Nobles) Ronken. While he was a youth, the family moved many times between Spring Valley, Minnesota and Lead and Deadwood, South Dakota, as Harlan searched for the perfect auto mechanic job.  They finally settled in the Lead-Deadwood area.  Ron often spoke of the trips between Minnesota and western South Dakota and all the different houses where they lived.  While a youngster he worked as a paperboy and helped around the garages where his father was employed.  He did not care for school and on October 12, 1941 at the age of 17 he enlisted in the Navy with his parent's permission.  While returning from leave after boot camp, he was on a train headed for Chicago on December 7, 1941 when all the servicemen aboard were called to the club car by an officer, who bought them drinks and then told them about the attack on Pearl Harbor.  Ron's specialty in the Navy was as an aviation metalsmith.

While on leave in Deadwood in the spring of 1948 he met Dolores Ellen Daue "Dee" who was working with Ron's mother, Laura, at Montgomery Ward's in Deadwood. After asking her out a few times for a drink she finally agreed to have coffee with him and within two weeks she came to meet him at his duty station in Corpus Christi, Texas to be married.  They were married on June 16, 1948 and had two children, Dan and Robin.  Ron's Navy career took him and his family to new bases about every three and a half years.  Some of his duty stations included Corpus Christi, Texas; the territory of Hawaii; Coronado, California; Oak Harbor, Washington; and many stations in Alaska including Kodiak.  In 1968 he retired from the Navy at the rank of Lieutenant and the family relocated to Deadwood.  He spent a few years at various jobs, including the Homestake Mine in Lead, until he decided to earn a teaching degree in Industrial Arts from Black Hills College.  He graduated in 1974 when he was 50 years old.  He taught in Isabel, SD for two years and then New Stuyhok, Alaska for eight years.

Ron and Dee moved to the Vale, SD area after he retired from teaching. He found the area reminded him of his early boyhood in Spring Valley, MN.

He is survived by his children, Dan (Connie) Ronken and Robin (Stephen) Hoffman; and two grandchildren, Nicholas and Brigid Hoffman.

Ron was preceded in death by his wife on October 17, 2010.

He enjoyed recounting events in his life, wood working, and auto restoration. After rebuilding his father's Toyota Tiara the vehicle was purchased by a Toyota museum for display purposes.