Ronald Keith Wanamaker

    A celebration of life of Ron Wanamaker was held February 8, 2020, at the Whitfield United Methodist Church in Sioux City, Iowa with Pastor Liz Tucker officiating.   It was followed by Moose Lodge Pilgrim ceremony.  Internment was at Hillcrest Cemetery in Decatur, Nebraska with Dale Wolf officiating at the gravesite service.  The former Decatur man passed away January 30, 2020 in Peoria, Arizona.  He was 63 years of age.

    Ronald Keith Wanamaker was born April 26, 1956, in Oakland, Nebraska to Edmund and Pauline Wanamaker and spent most of his early years in Decatur.  He graduated from Decatur High School in 1974 and then attended a electronics school in Omaha.  He married Linda Thompson in 1976 and they had three daughters; Trudance, Amanda and Ashley Lyn.  They divorced in 2000.  Ron married Robin Dawdy on June 26, 2004 in Sioux City.  He had worked for Cable One in Sioux City for 26 years, until 2014 when he and Robin moved to Phoenix, Arizona. There he worked at Desert Diamond Casino until his retirement in 2019.

   He was an active member of Whitfield United Methodist Church serving on several committees; his favorite time was the annual fundraiser for their legendary peanut brittle. An avid member of Moose Lodge in South Sioux City, Nebraska since 1994; he was an officer, attended many conventions and did charity work through the organization.  Ron loved to cook, especially his famous fudge, eating crab legs andgoing to the movies with Robin weekly.  They travel extensively but always made time to visit family and friends in Siouxland.

   Survivors include his wife Robin Wanamaker, of Peoria, AZ two daughters,Trudy Corey of Sioux City and her children, Nicole (Sam ) Chernock of Homer, NE ; Morgan, Nathan and Noah Corey of Sioux City, Amanda Wanamaker and Chris Christiansen of Hornick, Iowa; and seven great Grandchildren. Brother Duane (Marilyn) Wanamaker of Dakota City and sister Linda (Garry) Tolliver of Seatte, WA and many nephews and nieces.

     



Information taken from the May 30,1999 Decatur Alumni Banquet Booklet

Spouse:  Linda E. Thompson/Wanamaker      Married July 2, 1976

Children:  Trudi 22 lives in Albuquerque, NM; Amanda 19 lives at home with us and Ashley Lynn--still born.

After graduation I went to school at Gateway Electronics in Omaha.  While attending school there I met my wife, Linda in Lincoln.  We were married at Walthill.  While in Walthill, I worked for a rural fertilizer company for one year, where we also had our 1st daughter, Trudi  We then moved to North Platte, where I worked for the Nebraska Public Power District..

After 2 years we moved back to Sioux City, and I went to work for the cable TV company.  We lived in Sioux City for two years where our second daughter, Amanda was born.

We then moved to LeMars, where I took over all technical and maintenance of the Cable TV company for three years. Then I went to work for independent construction companies designing and building cable TV systems in different parts of Iowa.

In May of 1986 my wife and our two daughters were involved in a car accident where our third daughter died stillborn.

We then moved back to Sioux City, IA where I went back to work for the cable TV company.  I've worked there for the last 13 years as head technician.