Ronald A. Piotraschke

Ronald Allen Piotraschke of Fort Collins, formerly of Englewood and Colorado Springs, died peacefully February 18 at home with his dog by his side. He was 92.

A celebration of life will be held at 11 a.m. on March 8 at Goes Funeral Home, 3665 Canal Drive, Fort Collins, CO.

Ron was born at Children's Hospital in Denver on Sept. 12, 1932 to Ernest and Anne Piotraschke. He and his two brothers, Jerry and Roger, grew up in Englewood where his first job was delivering papers for the Denver Post. With their earnings they would take the streetcar around town, venture to amusement parks and jump on the Winter Park ski train Summers on Cherokee Street were spent playing sports in the streets and in the winter their frozen yard became a hockey rink.

He attended Englewood High School where he played on the baseball and tennis teams, both of which went on to win local and state championships.

After high school, he attended the University of Colorado-Boulder earning a bachelor's degree in history and physical education.

His first teaching job was at Cheraw Consolidated Schools near LaJunta for $2,900 a year. Always a sports enthusiast, he coached all the school's sports teams, drove the school bus route on dirt roads and even chased coyotes by car with the superintendent.

During the summers, he worked on his master's degree in education at CU, where he met the love of his life, Alice Tuemler. The couple was married on June 15, 1963. They raised their two children, Mike and Julie, in Colorado Springs where Ron worked as a social studies teacher at West Junior High School. In addition, he loved working evenings and weekends as an umpire and referee for area baseball, softball and basketball teams. In 2014 he was inducted into the Colorado High School Baseball Umpire Hall of Fame.

After retiring from teaching, he and Alice opened Sign of the Dove religious bookstores which they operated until they moved to Fort Collins in 1994 to spend their retirement years. In between a job in the sporting goods department at Wal-Mart, Ron and Alice enjoyed river boat cruises in Europe, exploring castles in Edinburgh and England, visiting tulip fields in Holland, viewing glaciers in Alaska and seeing the history of Red Square in Moscow. While not on planes, they purchased an RV and traveled the West.

Ron also was an avid tennis player well into his 70s and won the State Senior Tennis Tournament two years in a row.

During Alice's10 year struggle with Alzheimer's, Ron remained a loving and supportive husband and caregiver. When she died in 2010, he leaned into his love of travel touring Hong Kong and the Great Wall of China.

In his 80s and 90s, he enjoyed the supportive community of his English Ranch neighborhood, watching his grandchildren's events, walking his faithful companions and constantly adding more plants and flowers to his garden.

He is survived by his son, Mike and his daughter, Julie; and six grandchildren, Sam, Abby, Emily, Josh, Madeline and Sophie.

Memorial contributions can be made to the Alzheimer's Association in c/o Goes Funeral Home, 3665 Canal Drive, Fort Collins, 80524.