Ron Heathman, 67, Dies; Formerly Lived in Sitka
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- Created on Wednesday, 17 August 2022 10:28
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Ronald Lee Heathman
Ronald Lee Heathman, a longtime Sitka resident, passed away on July 23, 2022, at his home in Anatone, Washington. He was 67.
Ron learned to love the outdoors as a young boy at his family’s hunting and river rafting lodge in Troy, Oregon. His love of the great outdoors brought him to Alaska in the mid 1970’s. Ron and his best buddy, Carl, were headed to the North Slope to make their fortunes, but stopped in Sitka first and decided to stay.
It was here he started his own family and built a good life. He was a hard worker and spent his years in Sitka as a tour bus driver, a tractor driver, and owner of a propeller repair shop. He loved Southeast Alaska, and spent all the time he possibly could hunting, fishing, camping, and boating with his family and many friends.
He especially loved telling jokes and stories around the campfire.
His love for adventure was passed along to his three children who, thanks to their dad, know what it is like to be a true Alaskan.
He returned to his forest property in the Blue Mountains of Washington in 2002 to live out his life.
Ron will be remembered as a kind man with a gentle soul. He will be missed.
He was preceded in death by his parents, Tom and Faye Heathman.
Ron is survived by his younger brother, Tom (Geri) Heathman of Anatone, Washington; aunt Carol (Rick) Bruns of Anatone; son Zach (Megan) Heathman, and granddaughters Taelyn and Madelyn, of Sitka; and daughters Megan Heathman of Bend, Oregon, and daughter Katie (Shawn) Smith of Grants Pass, Oregon.
An outdoor memorial celebration will be held in Sitka early in 2023.
Thanks to the generosity and expertise of the the Central Council of Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska broadband department, Tidal Network ; Christopher Cropley, director of Tidal Network; and Luke Johnson, Tidal Network technician, SitkaSentinel.com is again being updated. Tidal Network has been working tirelessly to install Starlink satellite equipment for city and other critical institutions, including the Sentinel, following the sudden breakage of GCI's fiberoptic cable on August 29, which left most of Sitka without internet or phone connections. CCTHITA's public-spirited response to the emergency is inspiring.
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