RONALD GEORGE STRETTER (1946-2024)
Ronald George Stretter, 78, of Mansfield, MA, passed away on Friday, November 22, 2024. Born in Fort Collins, CO, to Ronald L. and Wanda (Saturley) Stretter, Ron grew up with his younger brother Bob in northern California, where he attended Mountain View Academy. Ron graduated from Pacific Union College, where he met his wife of 56 years, Donna Jean Greer. Ron’s life was built around faith and family. His family remember him above all as a loving husband, father, and grandfather. After Ron and Donna married in 1968, sons Robert Eugene and Jonathan Roy joined the family. Ron had a special, life-long relationship with Jonathan, whose disabilities kept him living at home. After relocating to New England to be closer to son Rob and daughter-in-law Elizabeth Bridgham of Janesville, WI, Ron was thrilled by the arrival of his two grandsons, Benjamin and Henry, whose regular visits were a highlight of his final years.
Ron’s Christian faith provided both personal comfort and a vocation throughout his life. After studying religion in college, Ron attended seminary at Andrews University in Michigan before embarking on a four-decade career as a Seventh-Day Adventist minister, working in California, Ohio, and Maryland, before returning to California and settling in the Napa Valley. Having loved his time as a counselor at Camp Wawona in Yosemite Valley during college, it is no surprise that part of Ron’s early career consisted of running summer camps for young people. In later years, combining a passion for youth ministry and a love of travel, Ron led dozens of short-term mission trips, building churches and schools around the world. Many of these trips were with Maranatha Flights International, a service organization dear to his heart and on whose board he served for many years. Ron also served the church as Youth Director for the Ohio and the Northern California Conferences, as well as Director of Youth and Family Ministries for the Columbia Union. He was involved in the design and production of several major “camporees” for Adventist young people in the Pathfinder program, including serving as the director of the 1989 Friendship Camporee. Everyone who knew Ron marveled at his gifts for organization, planning, and team-building. Whether in the role of a church pastor, a summer camp director, an administrator, or a Pathfinder leader, Ron’s love and respect for others was evident.
Ron had a mischievous sense of humor, sometimes to the consternation of his eldest son. His long-running and good-natured “feud” with his sister-in-law, Sharon Millard, led to many laughs. Sharon likes to say that Ron “gave her fits,” as they teased each other over the years. A man of many interests, Ron enjoyed woodworking and carpentry, hiking and camping, rock climbing, snow skiing and waterskiing, and the comedy of Garrison Keillor. Travel was also a life-long source of pleasure. A fan of the travel writer Rick Steves, Ron introduced his family to the world with trips to Europe, Central America, and the Caribbean, as well as all across the US and Canada. He seemed to enjoy planning trips as much as the trips themselves! Ron’s travels also gave him opportunities to pursue a favorite hobby, collecting pins for trading and display.
Ron is survived by his wife, Donna; his children Robert and Jonathan Stretter; his daughter-in-law Elizabeth Bridgham; his grandchildren Benjamin and Henry Stretter-Bridgham; his sisters-in-law Karen (Martin) Stretter and Sharon (Greer) Millard; brother-in-law Ken Millard; and nephews and nieces Chris Stretter, Stacey (Stretter) Vargas, and David and Kathryn Millard. He was preceded in death by his brother Robert (Bob) Stretter.
A memorial service celebrating Ron’s life will be held at 2:00 p.m. on Sunday, December 15, 2024 at the Foxboro Seventh-Day Adventist Church (308 Central St., Foxborough, MA). The service will be streamed here: https://www.youtube.com/@foxborosdachurch/streams
In lieu of flowers, memorials in Ron’s name may be made to the NBIA Disorders Association (nbiadisorders.org) to support research into the disease with which his son Jonathan lives.