Articles
Ron Rinker
•A Remembrance•
Born: August 3,1950
Los Angeles, CA
Death: On or about November 14, 2020
Oceanside, California
Heart Attack
Coincidentally, Ron joined the LAPL after seeing our Member’s Registration Meeting advertisement in Frontiers Magazine. At that time he was unaware of the existence of our sister city leagues in Long Beach and San Diego. Ron was living in San Clemente and the 5:00 P.M. traffic up to Los Angeles on Tuesdays was a challenge.
I say “coincidentally” since we rarely ran a paid ad in Frontiers since it was well over our print budget. It was a quarter page size and appeared in just one issue during a two or three year period of time.
He attended that Fall Registration Meeting in search of a slot on any team that needed a single player. He was paired with the Gauntlet II team and played for many seasons with Victor Brooks as his Captain.
Eventually, Ron would also participate in the Sunday Fund Raising events held on Sundays and thoroughly enjoyed himself.
After a few seasons, he found that both Long Beach and San Diego had similar formats and demographics. I was surprised that he didn’t switch to a much closer location. I asked him why he continued to make the long drive from San Clemente on Tuesday nights. He replied that he had made many friends in our League and wanted to maintain those relationships.
Ron’s first trip to the West Coast Challenge as a player was when he qualified during the Spring 2002 season as a winner of the HI/LO event with Jeffrey Hersh. Jeffrey exercised his option to play in the Open Individuals instead and Ron was paired w/Phil Burns at WCC XLV (July12-14, 2002 held at the Rawhide Bar in Los Angeles)
Subsequently, Ron served on the LAPL Board of Governors during the Fall 2004 and Spring 2005 seasons.
FINALLY, he decided to take the course of least resistance and headed to the San Diego Pool League; much closer to home.
He distinguished himself as a player and a longtime member of the Board of the San Diego League. We would see him twice a year at the West Coast Challenge either as a player, member of the SDPL Board or a Judge.
Ron was a real gentleman and good sport. We can all learn from his example.
As a former member of the LAPL Board who served selflessly, we will miss his good humor and steadiness.
Michael Loyer, a member of the San Diego Pool League, has also posted a tribute to Ron on Facebook from the perspective of Ron’s service to the SDPL.
-jh
