Ron, I follow you all over the place at school, just wishing you would look or talk to me!! You were such a nice kid back then, so sad to see that you're not here with us : (. God Bless
I am deeply saddened to learn of Ron's passing. He was such an inspiration to so many of us. He was an excellent student and athlete...just an all around nice guy who was so kind and gentle to all his classmates. How very fortunate we are to have know an individual of his quality!
I think Ron died the summer after we graduated. The story I heard, from Sheila Brown, was that he was working on his car and dropped a tool that hit his head. He had a headache and went inside to lie down, and was found dead sometime later. I can't vouch for any of this, and Sheila is dead, but maybe someone else knows more. I didn't know Ron well, but in our senior year, in Mr. Honsberger's College Prep. English class, an announcement came on over the loudspeaker for all the members of Honor Society to go have their pictures taken. Everyone but Ron and I got up and left the room. This gave us an odd and temporary bond. He was a nice and friendly guy. Jan
I heard the same story as Jan except that I thought it was about 4 yrs. after graduation. Ron & I lived about 5 blocks apart & became fast friends in junior high. We spent many hrs. playing ping pong in his basement until about 3:00 am & then laying on sleeping bags talking about philosophy, religion, & astronaomy.
His dad had a nice boat, & used to take us to Lake Stevens to water ski. We loved playing pinochle. We played against my mom & dad & his mom & dad, & sometimes with his mom 3 handed. Everybody used to tease Ron when it was his turn to deal the cards. He always had to stand up to deal..to this day, I don't know why, he just did, every single time. I remember one really hot summer day at his house, when I thought I could beat him in wrestling. He was a varsity wrestler. I don't know which one of us thought of this but, we decided to cover our bodies from the waist up with cooking oil..sounds a little "kinky" now, but the idea was, the last guy standing wins. We tried to throw each other to the ground but with the oil it was almost impossible to hold on to anything. When we were tied at 3 & 3, I decided to stop & called it a victory. We tried to garden hose the oil off but that accomplished nothing, so we took lots of soap & hot water in the shower, about 30 min. each, to get clean. Every Christmas, for 4 years, I went to Ron's house for "hot toddies". His folks would make us a rum & eggnog drink & we would "toast the season. We both hated the taste, but it was tradition & we felt like we were getting away with something.
Some of you may remember a wild friday night at Ron's house, about a week before the end of our 9th. grade year. About 25 guys spent the night in Ron's backyard. Somebody brought a bottle, & lots of guys took our 1st. swig of hooch that night. Somebody got the brilliant idea of walking down the hill & thru the woods below his house all the way to Meadowdale beach. When some of the guys got to the Meadowdale beach road, they ran into a carload of Edmonds junior 9th. graders & a high school driver. Words were thrown around & somebody called the cops & told them there had been a "rumble" between schools. Nothing actually happened, but as the rumors built, the Edmonds police came to both schools the next monday. Really, nothing happened....but the story seemed to get bigger & bigger every day. Anybody remember that? I really miss both Ron & Ray Ewing. They both were great friends.
My favorite memory of Ron Tachell was our ninth grade Meadowdale Jr High ski club trip to Mt. Baker. Many of us were novice skiers, but Ron and Steve Schroeder were very accomplished. A group of five girls and these two guys took off up the chair lift. Somehow we missed a turn at the top and ended up in the back country with very deep snow up to our waists - not somewhere you wanted to be as a clueless skier. Ron and Steve spent hours digging us out each time we fell and were really nice about it. But both of them had already realized we were in trouble as the blizzard continued, the snow got deeper, and there were no other skiers in sight for hours. Finally we spotted an old rope tow and followed it down, falling, getting stuck, getting dug out, and beginning to get fearful. Then one of the girls would fall agIn, get struck again and these guys would have to hike back and dig her out. Their amazing patience and determination was my first experience with true chivalry.
Their clear thinking and leadership got us out of a scary situation. The guys knew daylight was quickly fading; we were getting really wet and cold. Just in time we spotted an old, out of order rope tow which we followed downhill. About that time one of the parents found us and was so relieved they couldn't yell at us for being late. We made it back to the lodge for dinner. Many years later when on that mountain again, I would think of Ron and Steve and how they saved us. I just loved those two after that day and miss having the opportunity to thank them.
Does anyone else remember this ski club trip.? Anne
Ron, Steve Schroeder and Janice Leighton are three I really miss. I remember coming home from Whitman on a break and my mother telling me Ron had died.
Ron was a sweet, smart, goofy guy. He was a horrible speller, so he asked me to "tutor" him, which really meant proofreading his five-paragraph essays for spelling errors so he wouldn't get that dreaded "F" for four or more spelling errors. He was such a bright guy, I just couldn't watch him get bad grades in English because he couldn't spell, so I helped him. We also dated a few times. Looking back, I wonder whether he asked me out on dates so I'd proofread his writing, or whether he asked me to proofread his work so he could ask me for a date. So, Women of Meadowdale '65, did you have a similar experience? If yes, then--as I said--Ron was a smart guy!
I was not one of Ron's inner circle, but I had a couple of classes with "Tach". Even though I was a relative nobody, he always had a smile and a good word that always improved my day.
The same could be said of Steve Schroeder. I didn't know about Steve until today either.
I'm saddened by both losses. They were truly good guys.
Nancy Pilon (Fong '66)
Ron, I follow you all over the place at school, just wishing you would look or talk to me!! You were such a nice kid back then, so sad to see that you're not here with us : (. God Bless
John Mills
I am deeply saddened to learn of Ron's passing. He was such an inspiration to so many of us. He was an excellent student and athlete...just an all around nice guy who was so kind and gentle to all his classmates. How very fortunate we are to have know an individual of his quality!
John
Jan Canfield (Nofziger)
I think Ron died the summer after we graduated. The story I heard, from Sheila Brown, was that he was working on his car and dropped a tool that hit his head. He had a headache and went inside to lie down, and was found dead sometime later. I can't vouch for any of this, and Sheila is dead, but maybe someone else knows more. I didn't know Ron well, but in our senior year, in Mr. Honsberger's College Prep. English class, an announcement came on over the loudspeaker for all the members of Honor Society to go have their pictures taken. Everyone but Ron and I got up and left the room. This gave us an odd and temporary bond. He was a nice and friendly guy. Jan
Dick Horch
I heard the same story as Jan except that I thought it was about 4 yrs. after graduation. Ron & I lived about 5 blocks apart & became fast friends in junior high. We spent many hrs. playing ping pong in his basement until about 3:00 am & then laying on sleeping bags talking about philosophy, religion, & astronaomy.
His dad had a nice boat, & used to take us to Lake Stevens to water ski. We loved playing pinochle. We played against my mom & dad & his mom & dad, & sometimes with his mom 3 handed. Everybody used to tease Ron when it was his turn to deal the cards. He always had to stand up to deal..to this day, I don't know why, he just did, every single time. I remember one really hot summer day at his house, when I thought I could beat him in wrestling. He was a varsity wrestler. I don't know which one of us thought of this but, we decided to cover our bodies from the waist up with cooking oil..sounds a little "kinky" now, but the idea was, the last guy standing wins. We tried to throw each other to the ground but with the oil it was almost impossible to hold on to anything. When we were tied at 3 & 3, I decided to stop & called it a victory. We tried to garden hose the oil off but that accomplished nothing, so we took lots of soap & hot water in the shower, about 30 min. each, to get clean. Every Christmas, for 4 years, I went to Ron's house for "hot toddies". His folks would make us a rum & eggnog drink & we would "toast the season. We both hated the taste, but it was tradition & we felt like we were getting away with something.
Some of you may remember a wild friday night at Ron's house, about a week before the end of our 9th. grade year. About 25 guys spent the night in Ron's backyard. Somebody brought a bottle, & lots of guys took our 1st. swig of hooch that night. Somebody got the brilliant idea of walking down the hill & thru the woods below his house all the way to Meadowdale beach. When some of the guys got to the Meadowdale beach road, they ran into a carload of Edmonds junior 9th. graders & a high school driver. Words were thrown around & somebody called the cops & told them there had been a "rumble" between schools. Nothing actually happened, but as the rumors built, the Edmonds police came to both schools the next monday. Really, nothing happened....but the story seemed to get bigger & bigger every day. Anybody remember that? I really miss both Ron & Ray Ewing. They both were great friends.
Dick Horch
Dick Horch
Ron Tachell was at my wedding september of 1968, & that's the last time I saw him.
Anne Mackie
My favorite memory of Ron Tachell was our ninth grade Meadowdale Jr High ski club trip to Mt. Baker. Many of us were novice skiers, but Ron and Steve Schroeder were very accomplished. A group of five girls and these two guys took off up the chair lift. Somehow we missed a turn at the top and ended up in the back country with very deep snow up to our waists - not somewhere you wanted to be as a clueless skier. Ron and Steve spent hours digging us out each time we fell and were really nice about it. But both of them had already realized we were in trouble as the blizzard continued, the snow got deeper, and there were no other skiers in sight for hours. Finally we spotted an old rope tow and followed it down, falling, getting stuck, getting dug out, and beginning to get fearful. Then one of the girls would fall agIn, get struck again and these guys would have to hike back and dig her out. Their amazing patience and determination was my first experience with true chivalry.
Their clear thinking and leadership got us out of a scary situation. The guys knew daylight was quickly fading; we were getting really wet and cold. Just in time we spotted an old, out of order rope tow which we followed downhill. About that time one of the parents found us and was so relieved they couldn't yell at us for being late. We made it back to the lodge for dinner. Many years later when on that mountain again, I would think of Ron and Steve and how they saved us. I just loved those two after that day and miss having the opportunity to thank them.
Does anyone else remember this ski club trip.? Anne
Maggie Haines
Ron, Steve Schroeder and Janice Leighton are three I really miss. I remember coming home from Whitman on a break and my mother telling me Ron had died.
Peri Axness (Di Crescentis)
I didn't know Ron very well but these stories are touching an meaningful Thanks for taking the time to write them and remember!
Carol Buschman (Szender)
Ron was a sweet, smart, goofy guy. He was a horrible speller, so he asked me to "tutor" him, which really meant proofreading his five-paragraph essays for spelling errors so he wouldn't get that dreaded "F" for four or more spelling errors. He was such a bright guy, I just couldn't watch him get bad grades in English because he couldn't spell, so I helped him. We also dated a few times. Looking back, I wonder whether he asked me out on dates so I'd proofread his writing, or whether he asked me to proofread his work so he could ask me for a date. So, Women of Meadowdale '65, did you have a similar experience? If yes, then--as I said--Ron was a smart guy!
Joel Sarver
I was not one of Ron's inner circle, but I had a couple of classes with "Tach". Even though I was a relative nobody, he always had a smile and a good word that always improved my day.
The same could be said of Steve Schroeder. I didn't know about Steve until today either.
I'm saddened by both losses. They were truly good guys.