Ronald Davisson, 88, of Pattonsburg, MO passed away at home from complications with prostate cancer on March 18, 2023.
Born September 10, 1934, Ronald Lee Davisson, in Kansas City, Missouri to his parents Amos Lindsey Davisson and Dorothy Lee George (Hall).
Ron grew up in Kanas City but spent many memorable summers at his grandparent’s farm in Indiana. He would often recall warm stories of time spent with his aunts Carrie, Juanita, and Freeda, as well as his uncle Jim. Cousin Shirley and Ron spent many days on the farm together with the horses and all the fun these two friends could have.
From a young age, Ron developed an insatiable drive and determination to achieve his goals, to realize things he wanted to accomplish, and then do it. In high school, Ron got his pilot’s license and purchased his first plane, investing his hard-earned money into what would become a lifelong passion. With the purchase of his plane, Ron stretched out his wings in those early years to set flight on what would become such a wonderful life.
Maybe not surprisingly, Ron found his way to joining the Air Force as an airman and traveled to many parts of the world. In the Air force, he served as a jet engine mechanic. It was during these years that he met his first wife, Lolly Davisson (Chocron), deceased, in Casablanca, Morocco. Ron and Lolly married in 1958 and soon began having a family of four children: Tom in 1959, Gary in 1961, Esther in 1962, and Todd in 1964.
With four children, his wife, and their St. Bernard, Sorry, Ron worked hard to keep them all safe, secure, and well-fed. Ron worked for Phillips digging ditches and laboring with a shovel and pick. He took a job at Bendix, and while there he took up the pipefitting trade. This is also where he learned his refrigeration skills. He also spent time as his own painting contractor, professional photographer, a beekeeper, and eventually landed a job as a pipe fitter with Ford Motor Company in Claycomo, MO.
Ron raised his kids with an expectation and an example of what it means to work hard, to apply yourself to a task or goal at hand, and to take pride in a job well done. In 1976 Ron decided to reconnect with his days on the farm as a child. He moved the family to Liberty, MO, and acquired a 30-acre farm in Kearney. This move provided ample opportunity for himself and his entire family to get a taste of what it meant to work the land.
When he wasn’t on the job at Ford, he and his kids and wife were on the job on the farm. Ron’s can-do attitude, no project too big for the Davisson clan, set them on the way to construct, by hand, a 50×100 metal machinery shed, spray and kill 30 solid acres of wild purple thistle, plow, plant and harvest those same 30 acres with alfalfa. Oh, and picking up a little “extra” work bailing up 1,000 + acres of straw along Front Street and 435! Tractors, mowers, bailers, mechanical breakdowns, hauling hay… All the time learning, doing, and accomplishing so much… together. Very much Ron’s happy place.
Ready for a little travel and adventure, Ron journeyed to Israel in 1984 to volunteer in the Israeli Defense Forces. He visited his wife’s family there, who, in time, he became very close with. Tragically his Israel tour was cut short by the death of his second son Gary, in March of that year. This Israel experience shaped a lifelong affinity and support for the Jewish state.
Not long after his return from Israel, Ron divorced his first wife in 1986. During this time of his life, searching for more meaning, he found his way to the Jehovah’s Witnesses and met and married his 3rd wife, Betty Everly. They were happily married until Betty’s passing from a surgical complication in 1995.
After 26 years at Ford, he took early medical retirement in 1997. Not one for a sedentary life of retirement, Ron took a job at the Missouri Correctional Facility in Cameron, MO. There he worked with prisoners and operated in a number of different positions. He was promoted to sergeant and ended up working at the prison for 15 years before his second retirement at the age of 80!
Always wanting to be on a project, he found ample opportunity to help and contribute to the work on his farm in Pattonsburg, MO with his son-in-law Mickey Vinzant. Ron loved the land, the farm, and the machinery, and he loved sharing his wisdom and knowledge with anyone willing to work alongside him.
Ron is survived by his 3 living children and their spouses: Tom Davisson and his wife Audrey, Esther Vinzant and her husband Mickey, and Todd Davisson and his ex-wife Michelle Parkinson. Ron is also survived by his grandchildren Kimberly Oeth, Matthew McDonald, Jacob Vinzant, Eddie Becchina, Joey Becchina, Gary Davisson, and Rebecca Davisson.
May his memory forever be a blessing.
Memorial Services with Military Rites will be held at 1:30 p.m. Saturday, March 25 at Roberson Funeral Home, Pattonsburg, MO. Inurnment will follow in Pattonsburg Memorial Gardens, Pattosnburg, MO.
