Ronald Walters, 85, a resident of Saint James, formerly of Belle, passed away Wednesday, Oct. 9, 2024, at the Harry S. Truman Veterans Hospital in Columbia.
He was born, July 5, 1939, in St. Louis, a son to the late Roscoe “Arle” and Alice (Hassler) Walters.
Ronald proudly served his country in the United States Army in the 1950s. After his military service, Ronald worked for Ford Motor Company in St. Louis where he was a member of the U.A.W.
He was an entrepreneur, starting and owning a successful transmission repair business in Washington, called Apollo Automatic Transmission. While in Washington he served as an officer for the Washington Police Department. He also worked for the Missouri State Water Patrol.
He was adventurous. He drove his wife and three kids from Missouri to North Pole, Alaska in 1967, where he worked as a mechanic for the U.S. Military for over a year.
He was a licensed USCG Boat Captain known as Captain Ron. In the 1980s, he bought and refurbished a 38-foot Chris Craft Sport fishing boat in St. Louis and later sailed the boat 1,200 miles down the Mississippi River to the Gulf of Mexico and landed in Carabella, Fla., where he started yet another business called Walters Yacht Service. He would take people deep sea fishing, and he also repaired boats for over 20 years. While in Carabella he served as the President of the Carabella Chamber of Commerce.
Some of his other hobbies included hunting, fishing, boating and spending time with friends and family telling stories.
He was preceded in death by parents, Roscoe and Alice; son, Kemp O. Walters; grandson, John A. Walters; great-grandson, Everett H. Butler; twin brother, Donald Walters; brothers, Lonnie Dale, William Paul, Gary Ray, Larry Dean and David Gerald; and sister, Vickie Lee.
Ronald is survived by son, Kent Walters and wife Lynnell; sisters, Arlene White, Yvonne Light and Brenda Lange; brother, Rhandy Walters; as well as many grandchildren, great-grandchildren, nieces and nephews.
A Celebration of Ronald’s Life will be held Sunday, Oct. 27, from 1–5:00 p.m. at the Belle/Bland Community Center.
Inurnment with full military honors will be held Monday, Oct. 28, at 2 p.m. at the Missouri Veterans Cemetery in Springfield.
In lieu of flowers, expressions of sympathy may be made to the Harry S. Truman Veterans Hospital in Columbia in support of our Veterans.
A special thanks to Deena and Arlin Ellis for the tremendous amount of help you gave. Dad loved you both.
Cremation arrangements were under direction of Rolla Cremation and Memorial, Rolla.
