Ronald James Bader was called to Heaven after struggling for many years with corticobasal degenerative
disease. He died at home in Homer with his loving family and friends at his side. Even though he was
unable to verbally communicate for the last months, his sparkling eyes and smile made all who visited
with him know that he was in the present.
Ron was born in Saginaw, MI, on March 18, 1935, to Dorothy Bader and Jack Mertz of Reese, MI. His
elementary years were influenced by the one-room-schoolhouse a mile and a half away from his
grandparent's farm house. In that school Ron was fascinated with a few large maps, especially the one
of the Territory of Alaska that had "unexplored" written across Alaska's northern sections. A few months
after high school graduation, 18-year-old Ron independently drove north to that unexplored Territory in
a 1940 Pontiac that he outfitted for sleeping, fishing and cooking. In doing so, he made local headlines in
the Saginaw newspaper: "Youth Heads North to Alaska". The Alcan had been completed, but the 1954
early spring break-up challenged the 14-year-old Pontiac. Upon arriving in Anchorage six weeks later, he
was quickly offered a summer manual labor job with the Alaska Railroad working on the Lawing to
Seward section. His pay was always paid out in silver dollar coins. At the end of that summer season he
had $900 silver dollars saved up in nine embossed boxes – an unheard of sum according to this
Grandfather, for a "kid."
Another trip to the Territory was made in 1956. This time he landed in Fairbanks for a brief employment
stint, but ended up near Kiana, and settled in for the winter with an original Gold Rush '98-er miner. Ron
did the brawny grunt work for the old guy during that winter of '56-57, and learned much about arctic
living and mining from the books and mind of Jack Casinov.
Ron then returned to MI with a vengeance to finish his college degree, and returned to AK permanently
in 1961, having been hired through the mail with the Anchorage School District. During his 29-year
tenure with ASD, Ron taught math, auto-shop, metals and PE at Clark Jr. High, and when A.J. Dimond
High opened in 1966, he was offered a position on the first faculty. Throughout those years he also
coached speed skating, cross-country skiing and volleyball. The time and classes sped by, and retirement
from teaching meant the opening of many other pursuits.
Ron always sought to be outdoors. From hunting and fishing to fill the freezer, to bottle hunting for Gold
Rush treasures, backcountry skiing, off trail camping, blueberry picking, house and greenhouse building,
gardening and more. Ron taught his two children the value of Alaska's wild places, staying productive
and always imaging what vista was over the next hill. He often said he didn't want to follow someone
else's established trail, but studied topographical maps before heading out to seek his joy – always with
a good dog, often with family and friends in tow. During the late 1970s and 80s, he fished in the Bristol
Bay commercial fishery. After the BB years, he spent 27 years living the summers in roadless Peterson
Bay, repurposing an old homesteader's shelter into a happy home. He also established an oyster farm,
and supported the shellfish mariculture industry in the greater Kachemak Bay Area by contributing time
and resources to the building of a shellfish processing plant on the Homer Spit. One of Ron's last efforts
in his early 80s was to support the budding peony industry in Homer by planting a "dirt" peony farm and
encouraging the development of a marketing/distribution coop in Homer. The disease robbed Ron of his
lifelong love of reading non-fiction, and until his end, he appreciated being read to from books of
astrology, history or Arctic exploration.
Ron is survived by his wife, Marie; two children, Tracy Anna and Charles; daughter-in-law, Shannon
Craig; and grandchildren, Rosemary, Roxanna, James, Natalie, Sadie , Nili and Lior, all of Anchorage; and
many wonderful friends and relatives in and out of of Alaska.
Ron's family sincerely thanks Pastor Heindorn, Hospice of Homer, Homer Home Health, Dr. Tuami, the
Terrace attendants and Ron's wonderful friends in Homer and Anchorage for all the love, care and
support given during Ron's last months. If you wish to contribute to Cure PSP, an organization that is
dedicated to unraveling the Parkinson's Plus diseases, please do. Or, consider a gift to Homer Hospice
mentioned above.
