The world was a never-ending adventure for Ron Raines, according to his family.
“He could make a plain box into a spaceship – I mean, really make you believe it, because he believed,” said his daughter, Kelly Tarpeo of Barnhart. “He had an imagination that was just out of this world.”
Debbie Raines thinks having to rely on that imagination as a child motivated her husband of 48 years.
“Because he grew up so poor, he could make something out of nothing,” she said. “If we could think of something, he could figure out how to put it together.”
Mr. Raines died May 22 of complications from stomach cancer.
He was an electrician for Chrysler and a longtime member of the Missouri Air National Guard.
He grew up in Peoria, Ill., one of five children in a family that enjoyed nature and the outdoors.
“They did a lot of fishing and camping, hunting,” Debbie said. “We went camping on our honeymoon. But he had married a city girl; that was about the last time we did that.”
After graduating from high school, Mr. Raines went to work at Caterpillar.
“He joined the Air Force in 1970,” Debbie said. “He was in the same unit as my best friend’s fiance, who set us up as pen pals.”
The two exchanged a number of letters, and talked idly of meeting someday.
“Then my friend’s fiance showed a picture of me to the guys in the barracks, and I guess Ron thought I was cute,” she joked. “The following weekend, he drove 100 miles to come and meet me.”
The two were married in 1972, and he was stationed at Grissom Air Reserve Base, an Air Force base in Indiana, where he worked as a civil engineer. The couple welcomed son Tim in 1974 and Kelly in 1976.
After the Air Force, Mr. Raines went back to Caterpillar, working his way into skilled trades, but a strike in 1984 threatened his job.
“He came down to St. Louis and applied at the Ford and GM plants,” Debbie said. “He worked a while at Ford; then somebody told him Chrysler was hiring. Out of 500 applications, they hired five electricians – and he was one.”
He started at Chrysler in 1987 and retired in 2013. Mr. Raines joined the Air National Guard in St. Louis in 1985, working on water and waste treatment programs as a civil engineer.
The family lived in Arnold and moved to Imperial in 1995.
“He was such a fun dad, a fun grandpa,” Debbie said. “My nieces and nephews spent a lot of time with him. They loved their Uncle Ron.”
Mr. Raines had a wide variety of interests and included his children and extended family in many of his adventures.
“I’ll bet there are probably five different clubhouses on our property that he built with the kids,” Debbie said.
Mr. Raines coached T-ball, was a Cub Scout leader and mentored students in the local rock and mineral club.
“He had a friend who was a meteorite hunter and got him interested in collecting meteorites,” Debbie said. “He loved astronomy; he loved playing his guitar – he was self-taught.”
Kelly said her father’s enthusiasm and curiosity were contagious.
“My kids got it from him, that way of thinking outside the box,” she said.
Mr. Raines was also protective of his family.
“He made sure I had emergency equipment in my car, my tires were in good shape,” Kelly said. “He wanted to be sure I was safe driving his grandkids around.”
She said her dad was a faithful spectator at his grandsons’ sports events.
“He always showed up to football, baseball, wrestling,” Kelly said. “Everyone on the team loved him.”
Debbie said she and her husband enjoyed being part of the Santa House in Kimmswick for many years.
“I helped with craft stuff, and he did the lighting,” she said. “He made the gingerbread house float that the Blue Owl used for several years.”
After retirement, the Raineses enjoyed travel.
“We did cruises, took the grandkids on bicycle trips, hiking trips,” Debbie said. “Our friends had a Cooper Mini, and they were in all these clubs for Mini owners. We had been talking about getting a fun car of some kind, and they said, ‘Get a Mini and come hang out with the cool kids.’”
The Raineses purchased their Mini in June 2019, but were only able to go on a few club outings.
“He was diagnosed in July with Stage 3 stomach cancer,” Debbie said. “He went through chemo, had surgery to remove part of his stomach and esophagus. He had radiation, then chemo again.”
Despite his care team’s best efforts, Mr. Raines continued to decline.
“In March, a CAT scan revealed it (cancer) had spread to his brain and spinal cord,” Debbie said.
The family faced the inevitable with courage and grace.
“We had the best experience with hospice,” Debbie said. “It was phenomenal. We did a renewal of vows ceremony on May 9, and they helped us put that together. He started going downhill the next day; I think he was waiting for that.”
Debbie said her husband got to say his good-byes to family and friends, and video recorded messages to his four grandsons.
Kelly said her father met his end on his own terms.
“He died with a smile on his face. He handled his death the way he lived his life: with integrity and grace.”
“Life Story,” posted Saturdays on Leader Publications’ website, focuses on one individual’s impact on his or her community.