Ronald Fred Greenwald

September 6, 2016 marked the passing of local farm boy, Ronald F Greenwald. Ron was born August 10, 1937 in Greeley, Colorado, to Fred Greenwald and Signe Catherine Swanson Greenwald of Windsor. Along with his younger sister Margie, he grew up on the family farm and dairy, and graduated in 1955 from Windsor High. An all-state basketball player, he would practice shooting baskets between setting the milkers on the cows, much to his father's chagrin. Ron milked up to 60 cows twice a day until his senior year at CSU, when he moved to the TKE fraternity house close to campus. Graduating in 1959 with a degree in Vocational Agriculture, Ron taught until drafted into the Army, serving two years at Fort Leonard Wood MO as a veterinary specialist. Returning to Colorado in 1962, he resumed teaching at Lookout Mountain Correctional School for Boys, and managed the school's farm and dairy.

On his birthday in 1963 Ron married his college sweetheart, Lynn Renee Heath at First Presbyterian church in Fort Collins. In 1965, LBJ's Great Society initiative created Job Corps which Ron saw as a solution to the revolving door problem he observed at the school. Inmates were released to their home or the streets, only to return. He was hired by the US Forest Service as a teacher at one of the very first rural centers near Chadron Nebraska. A 2-year program, Job Corps relocated at-risk youth from remote rural areas and inner cities; young men and women arrived at the centers from all over the United States. After initial culture shock and homesickness, they bonded with the program and worked toward certification in many careers, from heavy equipment and carpentry to secretarial and cosmetology. Career and survival skills were balanced with achieving a GED certificate. Many Forest Service projects were completed using skills they learned at the center. With his big personality and imposing stature as well as his background working with youth, Ron was a good fit in the program. By 1969 he became the youngest center director while at Boxelder Job Corps Center at Nemo, So Dakota.

Early 1970 turned national interest to the preservation of our environment. Ron was selected to conduct environmental workshops nationwide, both in metropolitan areas and in remote sites. Senators and teachers, businessmen and garden club presidents would re-discover their inner kid as they followed him in hip waders to collect and test pond water samples, or take core samples of trees and identify and observe….who knows what? Ron's mission was to inspire the leaders who would pass the torch to the next generation. Ron was tapped by the Forest Service to be the National Environmental Officer in Washington DC. For the next 2 years before returning to the Job Corps program in Portland OR in 1976. Ron retired in 1997 as National Deputy Director of the Job Corps Programs under U S Forest service management.

Ron's first mission on returning to Fort Collins was to purchase a "vintage" red 1959 International Harvester utility tractor. He put many hours (and even more new parts) into that tractor for the next 17 years. Together, they were a familiar pair in his rural neighborhood. He didn't wait for a call before he would fire it up at some ungodly early hour to go plow paths through drifted snow or mow someone else's barrow pit "while he was at it"

By the time he retired he had traveled extensively, but in his heart he never left the farm. Honoring his parent's wishes, he had gotten a college degree and a "city job". His greatest satisfaction in his retirement years was sharing the history of his German-Russian heritage. He served many years as president and on the board of the Northern Colorado chapter of American Historical Society of Germans from Russia (AHSGR). If you are reading this, you might have a little Volga German blood in you, or are married to one, or have one of them living next door. Many do not even know they are of Volga German extraction, never hearing it mentioned at home. During two successive world wars, little was said about being German, much less being from Russia. In those days, when folks immigrated to the U. S. their objective was to become "Americanized" as quickly as possible. Recently Ron was awarded the Alpha and Omega Award for his many years of tireless efforts on behalf of the SOAR (Save Our Ancestral Records) Program founded through the AHSGR.

Three years of failing health shaped his final days. Ron leaves behind Lynn, his wife of 53 years; three children; Heath Greenwald, Kari (Todd) Sprague, and Laurie (Jason) Kolb. His 7 grandchildren, listed in no particular order as each was his favorite: Cruz Kolb, Nora Sprague, Hudson Greenwald, Nigel Sprague, Ace Kolb, Nev Sprague, and Ivy Lynn Kolb. We are grateful to the many, many friends who have expressed their condolences at his passing.

Uncharacteristically, he wanted to slip away without fanfare when his time came to meet his Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. We will honor his wishes with a private ceremony when we place him at rest between his mother and father at the Windsor Lakeview Cemetery. We know when we see him again he will have mastered playing the dulcimer and all the angels will be doing the Dutch Hop.

In lieu of flowers memorial gifts may be directed to the Ron Greenwald Memorial Fund at Life Church of Fort Collins, 1501 Academy Ct., Unit 105, Fort Collins, Colorado 80528. Ron chose to honor LFTI (Life for the Innocent.org). Locally founded, this group successfully rescues children from human trafficking, restores them to health in all ways and places them with Christian families.