Ronald Hess Obituary

Durango resident Ronald M. Hess died Wednesday, Dec. 7, 2011, at Sunshine Gardens West in Durango. He was 78.

Mr. Hess was born to John and Gladys (Rockey) Hess on May 15, 1933, in Alamosa. He spent his first years in Center. When he was 10, his father had to go where the work was, and the family moved to California. But by the age of 13, Mr. Hess was sent to school in Georgia and graduated from high school there.

Mr. Hess went on to graduate from the University of Missouri with a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering. He worked for Lockheed Martin in San Jose, Calif.

On Jan. 1, 1958, he married Leilani Baker in California.

She had inherited a home in southern Colorado, and the Hess family moved here in 1973. She died in November of that year, and it was then that Mr. Hess went to work for Williams Field Service, retiring in the late 1990s.

In 1979, he married Mary "Tommie" Seward Beach in Durango.

Mr. Hess moved into Sunshine Gardens about three years ago.

He attended First Baptist Church of Durango.

Mr. Hess enjoyed working on his computer and could fix anything, his family said. He also enjoyed traveling, camping and the "splendor of Colorado."

In addition to his first wife, Mr. Hess was preceded in death by his stepdaughter Susan Beach Dowler; and stepson Stephen L. Beach.

He is survived by his wife of 32 years, Mary "Tommie" Hess, of Durango; son, Mark L. Hess, of Guthrie, Okla.; daughters Linda M. Hess of Littleton and Kathryn M. Sells of Guthrie; stepsons David Beach of Cottonwood, Ariz., and Jonathon W. Beach of Granby; stepdaughters Judy Worwood of Kremmling and Rebecca Hofeldt of Green River, Wyo.; brothers Kenneth Hess of Alameda, Calif., and Harold Hess of Doylestown, Pa.; 20 grandchildren; numerous great-grandchildren; and extended family members.

A funeral will take place at 10 a.m. today, Dec. 10, 2011, at First Baptist Church, 332 E. 11th St. Visitation will be held an hour before the service. The Rev. Jeff Dobesh will officiate. Burial will take place at Greenmount Cemetery in Durango.