Ronald Henry Sarnacki's Obituary
Ronald Henry Sarnacki: A Brief Biography of His Life
Chapter 1
Born on July 5, 1930, Ron was the oldest son of Sofie and Henry Sarnacki of Cleveland, Ohio. As a youngster, Ron spent a lot of time living at his grandparents’ (Marian and Theodore Jablonowski) house, 4002 East 57th Street. He recalls his grandmother cleaning the house daily, scrubbing the wooden floors on her hands and knees, and cooking Polish food (pulaskis, etc.). His father Henry grew up living at 6811 Gertrude Avenue in Cleveland.
Schools Ron attended included St. Peter and Paul Catholic School and St. Mary’s Catholic School from Kindergarten – 3rd Grade, Warner School for 4th – 6th Grade (while living at 8910 McComb Avenue), A.B. Hart Junior High (torn down now) – he would take a street car to get there, Cayahouga Heights (part of high school – this was a K-12 school), and graduating from Independence High School (torn down now) in 1948. IHS was a smaller high school, and Ron liked it more for its small size and the fact that he had good friends who attended school there.
One of Ron’s good friends was Vince Delgado. He recalls that Vince’s father was in charge of making sure that the railroad tracks in Cleveland were always fixed as part of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (B&O Railroad – you may recall this as one of the railroads in the Monopoly game). Monopoly is also one of Ron’s favorite games. Ron and Eileen played Monopoly with their kids when they were young. Ron and Vince worked summers together repairing the train tracks for the B&O Railroad. The pay was good at $1.25/hour (quite a nice wage back in the mid 1940’s for a couple of high school kids). Ron and his father also worked as lifeguards for community pools.
Other residences of note included 6811 Gertrude Avenue (the house where Ron’s father lived as a kid), 9307 South Highland (the first house Ron and his wife Eileen owned) in Cleveland and little Ronnie lived for the first couple years of his life. Ron’s parents bought and owned a tavern as he grew up located at the intersection of Rockside Road and Canal Road in Valley View. Their home was on the second floor of the tavern. This place of business and residence was known as the Sarnecki Coctail Bar and was famous prior to that as Zimmerman’s Tavern. It was razed in the 1960’s to permit changes on Canal Road. It is now an open field at that intersection. The internet claims that the buisness was moved across the street and was called the Lockkeepers Restaurant in 1992. Jojo and Momo’s place would be located where Welch’s Packaging and Triangle Machine Products are now located (these used to be just behind the backyard of the Cocktail Bar).
Chapter 2
Ron and Vince Delgado decided to enlist in the Air Force and went to basic training in San Antonio, TX. Following this, Ron was stationed in Salina, KS briefly and then assigned to March Air Force Base in Riverside, CA. There he met the love of his life, Eileen Thomas (Eileen was from Albion, NB and was visiting her older brother in CA), at a dance on the base (in those times the Air Force bussed women to the base to participate in dances with the enlisted men). They dated, fell in love, married on May 10. 1951, and started their own family (children included Ronnie, Barry, Perry, Mike, and Marian).
Ron briefly left the service in 1952. He and Eileen and little Ronnie moved back to Cleveland where Ron helped run the Sarnecki Coctail Bar for several years. At the tavern most of his working hours were at night, and he became weary of this schedule. He chose to reenlist in the Air Force and was stationed at Hill AFB, Utah in 1956. Barry was born here. Next stop for the Sarnacki family in 1958 was in Seville, Spain, where Ron helped establish Moro’n AFB. Of all the places Ron lived, this was probably his favorite. He and Eileen would go flamingo dancing, owned a Citroen car, and lived in a mansion (9 C. Baleares, Seville, Spain). The family relocated to Abilene, TX at Dyess AFB where Perry was born and deceased in 1960 and Mike was born in 1961. Ron was transferred next to Cheyenne, Wyoming to work on missiles at Frances E. Warren AFB in 1963, and Marian was born in Cheyenne. Fast forwarding through the Air Force Bases and military transfers included the following: tours back to Dyess AFB in Abilene, TX and Carswell AFB in Ft. Worth, TX sandwiched around two tours of duty overseas in the Vietnam War.
Chapter 3
Ron retired from the Air Force, moved his family back to Abilene, TX, and began life as a civilian. Soon he found employment with Lone Star Gas Company in Dallas as a safety inspector, and the family moved to Richardson, TX. Later Ron was hired by OSHA and began his second career. He was always providing for his family. Barry, Mike, and Marian all attended school in Richardson and graduated from Berkner High School.
Retiring from OSHA at age 65, Ron settled into retirement. Initially, he traveled in Europe, visiting Spain, England, and other countries. His kids (Ronnie, Barry (wife Karen), Mike, and Marian) began to have grandkids, and he and Eileen spent lots of time with them. Now, the Master Sergeant became known as Dzidzia (Polish for Grandpa). Grandkids included Tiffany (husband Matt), Blake (fiancée Jackie), Tim (wife Marissa), David (wife Katie), Luke (wife Sabrina), Jordan (husband Michael), Emily (finance’ Trent), Heath, Steele, and Sophie. In 2006 with the passing of the one and only love of his life Eileen, Dzidzia’s grandkids began to grow up, and now he had great grandkids. These included, Dylan, Declan, Brooklyn, Presley, Noah, Crew, Hannah, Gwen, Kai, and Rory. Dzidzia became a Great Dzidzia.
In addition to spending time with his kids, grandkids, and great grandkids, Dzidzia became the King of Amazon and the King of Central Market in Plano. Dzidzia was a giver – that’s how he showed his love. He took his family out to eat at favorite places like Babe’s, The Olive Garden, Pappadeaux, and Applebee’s. He gave cars to his kids and grandkids. At Central Market everyone knew the retired Master Sergeant. As he aged, he rode around the store in the electric cart. Every morning Dzidzia had the same breakfast which he cooked from scratch, pancakes and thick-sliced bacon from Central Market. Then he watched Let’s Make a Deal. He loved his kids, grandkids, and great grandkids. He loved God and his country, the amazing USA, and the military. He loved going to Carswell Air Force Base and getting a Philly Cheese Steak Sandwich and a haircut. He loved collecting watches and clocks. He loved life and had 92+ years of it. He, with the help of Jesus, defeated cancer caused by exposure to Agent Orange during his tours of duty in the Vietnam War. Ron breathed his last breath on March 23, 2023 and is now with his Lord and Savior Jesus Christ in heaven. Dad, Dzidzia, Master Sergeant, American Patriot, thank you for your service! You are missed, but your spirit lives on in each of us. Amen
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