Obituary
Ronald Owen Walton was the beloved husband to Tara Walton for thirty-three years. He was a loving father of Karen Benner (John), Jon Walton (Christine), Don Walton (Lori) and Sarah Walton (Jackie); treasured Grandfather of Christopher Walton, Chelsea Walton-Garcia, Nathan Benner and John Philip Benner; and Great-Grandchildren Tristan, Walker, Hadley, Kinsley, Hudson and Lucy. Ron was a devoted son to the late Dale and Velma Walton of Toledo Ohio.
Ron pursued many passions in his life. One of those passions was being a Civil Engineer at Libbey-Owens-Ford/Pilkington and Owner of Walton Engineering, LLC. He enjoyed boating with his family and friends on the Maumee River and Lake Erie. He loved to watch fireworks from the water. A treasure of his was his 308GT4 Ferrari which was always a hit at all of the car shows he attended. Ron also enjoyed traveling the world. He was able to explore all over the USA, as well as Europe. He had a passion for trains, planes and automobiles. He spent many memorable hours with his family discussing and enjoying his hobbies.
Ron will be remembered for always bringing a smile to everyone’s face, for being loving and selfless to all who had the honor of knowing him. He loved attending church and Bible Studies, especially listening to joyful pipe organ music. He may have traveled up the road to Heaven, but his memory will live on forever.
Baldwin Brothers, Fort Myers, FL is entrusted with final care.
Service
3595 Broadway Fort Myers, Florida 33901
Visitation
12:00 PM - 2:00 PM
3595 Broadway Fort Myers, Florida 33901
I was always amazed by how much he remembered. I would call him many times just to guide me through the "secret decoder ring" of the LOF engineering system. We would be working away on a project and get stuck on a legacy design that was decades old. Then one day he would hand me that design and start to tell me all about the engineer that hand drew that detail. And always with some prank that somebody pulled on him.
I am in Laurinburg right now on a rebuild. I see his legacy everywhere. I truly wish we were still working together.
I will never forget his passion and enjoyment working on the myriad specialties of float glass making. He was not just a civil engineer, he was our glass expert.
Thank You for the showing me how to enjoy everything beyond my job. I will never forget your hearty laugh.
And, Ron is always thoughtful…in the funniest of ways!!! At the Tech Center, we used to have “team” meetings once in a while in the morning, and there were always bagels and other goodies. I’m sure they were not courtesy of LOF, but were paid for out of Ron’s pocket. I was working on a furnace rebuild in Laurinburg, NC, and one day I received an interoffice envelope from the Tech Center. Inside…yup…a bagel!!!! …and a note from Ron stating that I had missed a team meeting and he did not want me to miss out on the only important thing that came out of the meeting!!!
The thing I probably appreciated most from Ron was in the late 1990’s when we did two huge rebuilds back-to-back…one in Laurinburg and one in Rossford, OH. During this time, the new MO was to have a person from the plant be the Project Manager, and develop a team of people from the plant and from the Tech Center to work together to execute the Rebuild. In Laurinburg, Alex Locklear was the Project Manager and I was the Hot End Coordinator from the Tech Center. For the Rossford Rebuild, I was the Project Manager and Bruce Miller was the Cold End Coordinator from the Tech Center. The Laurinburg Rebuild was $45M and the Rossford Rebuild was $70M…pretty good size projects!!!!! Both of them turned out great…on time, under budget, and production great from the start! …and, Alex and I got all the accolades!!! However, EVERYONE knew that Ron had orchestrated both projects from start to finish!!! He allowed me and Alex to act in the roll of the Project Managers, but he was in the background ensuring everything went smoothly…and we did NOT screw up!!! He was the computer, the engine, and the tires…where the rubber meets the road…for both rebuilds, but he was willing to take a backseat…and be the steering wheel…to provide Alex and me the invaluable experience of being the Project Manager of a major rebuild. This experience propelled us into our future roles and supported us throughout our careers! It takes an incredibly selfless, honorable, supportive man to do what Ron did for us, and I will never forget it!!
Ron, Kraig Sager, and I share one very important aspect of our lives…we all married women from Laurinburg!!! Pamela and I met in 1986 in Laurinburg. I believe Ron and Kraig met Tara and Susie around the same time. From 1990 to 1994 I was working in Australia. During that time, Ron would continue to communicate with me, and often let me know that he had seen Pamela or had spoken to her. I believe when Ron spoke with Pamela he told her he had been in communications with me. In some way, I feel as though Ron kept our spirits in touch when we were so far away. And, as fate would have it, I returned to Toledo, and worked in Laurinburg for the aforementioned Rebuild…and Pamela and I were married in August 1997!!
Years after Ron had retired from LOF and was doing some consulting on his own, I contacted Ron to assist with a Hot Checker repair. I remembered working with Ron on a hot checker repair in Ottawa, IL back in the 90’s. Of course, I could not remember the specific details…but Ron did!!!!! Why did I contact Ron…well, apparently he was the only one in the industry that had done more than one hot checker repair…SUCCESSFULLY!!! And, again, Ron’s wealth of knowledge assisted us in completing a successful hot checker repair of our own. And, it was so great to see and work with Ron again. Even at PPG, Ron was well known as a Glass Furnace expert…his reputation preceded him, before I even contacted him!!! I believe that was the last time Ron and I worked together, and that was in 2015, which amounted to over 30 years that I had the privilege to work with Ron Walton.
Ron is the most respectful and respected man I know. He will do anything to help you succeed. He tells it like it is…which was not always taken well by our “leaders”…but it was right for the projects and especially right for the people working on them. Ron never put himself first, but always had the best interest of the people around him in mind. Kraig and I both went on to have similar roles to what Ron had, and I often thought about how Ron operated in those situations and tried to emulate him…but in the end, I knew I could never be as effective as Ron was. He was great to work for…and to work with. He was the epitome of “Work Hard, Play Hard”!!!