Today is a sad day. I learned this morning that my longtime friend, Ron Deck of Sky Tractor Supply in Hillsboro, North Dakota, passed away. Ron had been battling cancer for many months.
I would venture to say that just about everyone in the ag-aviation business knew Ron. If you ever attended a state, NAAA or Canadian trade show, Ron would have been there in full support with his array of supplies and services that Sky Tractor offered. When the exhibit hall doors started to close and the rest of us exhibitors were filing out, Ron would still be patiently talking with a customer, oblivious to the end of the exhibit hall time.
Ron truly cared about his customers. He wanted them to succeed safely and profitably. He spent many hours explaining the ins and outs of the Hemisphere GPS systems that he knew about and understood in detail, as well as CP Nozzles, helmets, ag-aviation software... and the list goes on.
My friendship with Ron goes back to the early 1990s, maybe even before then. I can distinctly remember when he served as president of the NAAA in 1990. He carried around a cell phone that was so huge it looked like a military walkie-talkie. I remember times when we would ride in the old blue van from a trade show back to his home for a bowl of homemade bean soup.
Ron was an adamant Ag-Cat operator. He believed in the aircraft and made many modifications to it that improved its performance. I can remember well his struggle with making the decision to convert from his geared R-1340 radial engines to the Walter turbines. Then, after he had operated them, I remember the big smile he had on his face with satisfaction and enthusiasm about the converted aircraft. He could hardly contain himself, asking me to come fly them, which I did on two different occasions several years apart.
I always felt that Ron “had it figured out”. He lived in North Dakota. But, about the time the first frost fell in Hillsboro, he was packing the van (in more recent years the motorhome) to hit the road working the trade shows. While his friends were hunkering down for the cold North Dakota winter, Ron and Barb would be enjoying the warm sunshine of the South attending state trade shows.
If there is any room in heaven, I know that Ron Deck will be there. He was a man of the Bible that not only did he read, but practiced and studied with a burning need to understand. More than once he would sit with me and we would enter into deep discussions about passages unlike any with a preacher or lay person. Ron could easily quote passages from the Bible that related to whatever was going on around him at the time. He had a very good understanding of the Bible and could relate that understanding to whomever he was discussing it with.
Our industry will mourn the loss of Ron Deck. It’s impossible for me to understand how such a vital, health conscious man could lose to cancer. Ron’s passing only proves we are on this Earth at the will of God. We do not have any rights to be here. What may seem unfair to us in the loss of a loved one, has to be part of a bigger plan.
Ron Deck - September 9, 2010
