Ron Sorace
Deceased (1981)
Photo - 1969
High School Activities - Wrestling, Gym Leader
The following was submitted by his sister, Karen Sorace-Thomas (Maple 1966):
Ron didn't make it to his 30th birthday but it wasn't for lack of trying. His zest for life and determination were evident right up to the end.
Ron went into the Air Force after high school and spent most of his duty as an air traffic controller in Tucson, Arizona. Upon returning to Cleveland with a wife and son he enrolled in Cleveland State University. After failing to keep his marriage together he moved to southern California without completing his degree at CSU.
While living in California, Ron decided to return to Maple Heights for his Class of '69 Ten Year Reunion even though he had, just days before the reunion, been diagnosed with cancer of the throat, tongue and lymph nodes. The Tuesday following the reunion he underwent surgery which the doctors thought was successful. As sometimes happens with cancer, the reprieve was short lived and six months later it returned. He underwent all the treatment that was available to him and went through a great deal of suffering, but in the end the cancer took him. His son, Ronald Richard Sorace Jr. was eight years old at the time.
Besides his parents, brothers and sister, Ron is survived by his son, Ron, daughter-in-law, Wendy, and three grandsons, Patrick, Ronald, and Jacob. The things that made Ron most endearing, his wit, his devil-may-care attitude, and his zest for life seem to have survived and been passed on the next two generations.
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