Ronald A. Elola Sr.

Maria and Family,
I am wrapping you in warm light and love.

Our sincere condolences.
John, Yvonne, Zayle, and Kallias Srem

Dear family,

So sorry to learn of Ron’s passing. He was a good neighbor …always gave me a huge smile and waving hand every time I passed him.
Hold on to your good memories of him as no one can take them away.
With love and prayers,
CM

.My family and I are devastated by this sudden loss of this intelligent, witty and loyal man, my husband Ron Elola Sr. Ron, had many qualities, I would like to tell you about a few of them. My husband was one of the most brilliant men I have ever known. Here are a few examples. We bought our first computer in 1993, before I knew it he bought a few books and within 2 months he was building his own computers for himself and friends.

Here’s another example, We bought a fixer upper in Livermore, at first he had help, but our funds started to run low, so he began to work on it himself. Ron gutted this house and did almost everything and learned how to do these things, by reading a few books. He taught our children to work on cars, even our daughters. I could go on and on about his ingenious accomplishments. My husband could do anything he set his mind too.

Ron was extremely loyal, honest and he had great integrity. He had pride and dignity. He was a perfectionist, he was humble, a sharp dresser, a great salsa dancer, an amazing father, husband and grandfather. I never heard him tell a lie or maybe I never caught him in a lie. Because of this he was an excellent example for our 6 children.

Michelle and Joseph were 4 years old when we got together. The others were a little older, when we began to successfully blend our two families into one. We raised all of them together. We never used the words step sister or half brother. So they grew up as brothers and sisters. This to us was one of the things that we were the most proud of… we truly are a family. And all of our children and our grandchildren and great grandson, will miss him equally.

My husband was not a man that showed emotion easily. So I vividly remember the times he did, because it was so rare. When our son Ronny was born it was a difficult birth. Little Ronny did not cry right away and we both were frightened until we heard the wailing of our child. Ron took my face in his hands and with tears streaming down his cheeks he said, Thank you, thank you thank you and kissed me all over my face. I was so surprised by his show of emotion all I could say was, you’re welcome. Then 13 days later his father Alfonso passed away. My husband was deeply affected by these 2 events, but with strength and resolve he made it through.

Ron always said things that surprised me. There was never a dull moment with my husband. One day I told him I wanted a nose job. He said “Oh no, there is nothing wrong with your nose. It’s those teeth I’d worry about.” He’s was such a smooth talker.

Ron started to become ill in 2020. Gradually he became worse. He was diagnosed with several ailments and in the winter 2022, we were told he had Parkinsons disease. He never lost hope and never lost his ability to walk. He had to walk with a walker or a cane. But it was important to him to remain mobile. The only time he would use a wheelchair was when we had to walk long distances.

A week before he passed away my brother Bobby and Ron watched boxing on TV in our living room. I still remember them laughing as they rooted for the same boxer. My brother Bobby, his wife Jessie and his best friend Leroy Medina were frequent visitors to our home and they helped us a great deal with yard work and other tasks and just keeping Ron’s spirits high. Two weeks before Ron passed his brother Mark and his wife Michele came down from Napa and spent the day with Ron and I… Ron was so happy to see them and when they left he told me, Today was a good day. We were grateful that they came. And I saw the happiness they both shared as they were engrossed in conversation for hours. When Ron became ill, our children gathered around us and helped me with taking their dad to appointments, going shopping for us, they helped us in every way possible and Ronny Jr. took over all the chores his father used to do at home.

We truly thought he had more time. But there were times when he would lay next to me and say, “Tina I’ve had a good life. I know I’m living on borrowed time.” And I would lay my hand on his cheek and say, “no, honey, we have a lot of time. We are going to do all the things we talked about and we will dance at our grandchildren’s weddings.” And he would smile and laugh.

Someone once told me, when you have great love there is also great sorrow for one of you will be left behind. Still I was so fortunate to have him in my life. So many people never find that person, the love of their lives. But I found it in Ron. For the rest of my life I will be grateful for the time we had together and I will cherish and remember all the great memories we made together. Ron you will never be forgotten.