Ronald Joe Deaton was born April 10th, 1939 in Hazard, Kentucky. He was predeceased by his parents, Chester and Marie Deaton and his wife of 53 years, Wilberta Combs Deaton. He is survived by his wife, Mary Anne Deaton, two sons, Grant of Leland and Greg (Jennifer) of DeWitt, Michigan, and their children, Jameson and Alex, his brother, Jimmy (Jan Russell), sister,Donna (Ralph Watson), sister Sandie (Jim Price) and numerous dear nieces and nephews and cousins.
The son of a Kentucky coal miner with an 8th grade education, Ron received his BS degree from Purdue and his MBA from Butler University. At Purdue, Ron was a member of social fraternity Kappa Delta Rho and was a Skull and Crescent. Ron proudly served his country in the United States Army. He retired after 35 years with Arvin Industries, where he was Director of World Wide Continuous Improvement. He had the opportunity to work in facilities in South America, Canada, Europe, Asia, as well as here in the USA. Ron was on the Advisory Board of the Department of Technology at Purdue and was selected for National Honorary for Technology and was a presenter at the International SMA Conference. He was adjunct faculty member at the University of Indianapolis and was on the advisory council for the School of Business and was named an Amicus Universittas. Ron was an avid reader and wanted everyone to have that opportunity. He was President of Johnson County Library Board. During his tenure, the district built two new libraries and was named Library District of the Year by the Indiana Library Association and Ron was selected Library Trustee of the Year. The Community Room at White River is named in his honor. Always wanting to give back to his community, Ron taught ESL in Indiana and supported many charitable and civic organizations including Chamber of Commerce, Scouts, Little League Baseball, Youth basketball, Food Pantries in Indiana, Michigan, and NC. He served as president of the Love Chapel in Columbus, Indiana. During his tenure a second building was opened for Food Pantry Services and the organization increased its membership to 24 churches. He enjoyed being a docent at the Bellamy Mansion. Locally he was active with Manna Ministries, Closer Walk Methodist Church, and the Tree of Hope. He has endowed scholarships in his mother’s name at Friends Fellowship, Richmond, Indiana, and his wife Wilberta’s name at Closer Walk. In his own words,
“I am proud of my accomplishments and have been blessed with two wonderful women as my wives and two wonderful sons. Things that bring a smile to my face: being with family, memories of my mom’s outrageous personality, sipping wine at 40,000 feet crossing the Atlantic, sitting on the back porch listening to the rain, jazz, and listening to Mike Waddell playing a saxophone solo.”
A Celebration of Life was held at Pine Valley Methodist Church, in Leland, NC on Saturday, April 1st, 2023. Graveside services will be held at 1 p.m. Saturday, April 15, 2023 at the Dublin Cemetery in Dublin, Indiana.
In lieu of flowers, please make memorials to Pine Valley Methodist Church, the Closer Walk Campus, 497 Olde Waterford Way, Suite 205, Leland, NC 28451 or to Lower Cape Fear Life Care Center, 1414 Physicians Drive, Wilmington, NC 28401.