Just attended the funeral of another cousin as I have so many times before but this one seemed different. This one was for Ron Pennington. Ron was a cousin who lived just two houses down the street when I was growing up. Rather than a cousin he was always more like a big brother to me when I was at a very young and impressionable age. Every young boy needs a figure in their life that always has time to spend with them and is always a good example. You see as a young boy I loved to play baseball and like me, Ron loved baseball and was very good at it. He played baseball for Salem High School as a middle infielder, mainly as a shortstop and was very good at it. We spent hour after hour in our back yard playing catch together, He would throw batting practice to me for hours at a time with a rubber ball. We broke the window out of Mr. Coomer's work shop so many times that Mr Coomer came over and threatened to sue us but it did not take long for Ron to convince him that it would not be a good idea. Ron taught me how to throw a curve ball and a knuckle ball. I always wanted to be as good of a shortstop as he was but I failed miserably. I guess that is why I became a pitcher, something that I was much more successful at.
He will probably go down in history as the Greatest Dodger Fan whoever lived. He knew everything about every player that ever wore a Dodger uniform that there was to know. He could have done the play by play on the radio I believe! I even heard today that some of his grand kids were named after Dodger players!
I remember when Ron joined the National Guard and it was time for him to go to Basic Training. There were more people gathered at Nig & Beulah's to send him off than what attended the family reunions.
The way people were all acting you would think that he was shipping out to the front lines.
When 57 Chevy's were popular, I remember Ron buying one, a yellow one. It had a three speed transmission on the column and he wanted to change it to a floor shifter so one weekend he decided to change it himself. He spent the weekend under the car doing all the work installing a Hurst Shifter and I spent the weekend handing him tools under the car and asking dumb questions. Later I remember him calling me to the back of the house into his bedroom where he showed me the bill of sale on a brand new 1966 Chevy Corvette, 427 Four Speed. Of course I was not allowed to tell anyone, it was our secret! We were so anxious until the vehicle was finally manufactured and delivered. I believe the sale price was about $6600. Imagine what it would be worth now! He used to pick me up and take me to the golf course where the two of us would play golf together. It was cool to play golf with him but the real fun was getting to ride with him in the “Vette”. I was the envy of all my friends because of getting to ride in a car that everyone wanted but only a few had. Later he bought what he called a “Bucket T”. A little yellow hot rod, and man was that a thrill to ride in!
On Friday nights when he would come home from dates late at night and he drove by our house and right beside my bedroom window on College Avenue, I call still remember him slowing down, down shifting, and giving the Vette a little “rev”. I guess that was his way of saying, I'm home!
Later in life Ron became a devout follower of Jesus Christ. If you have ever sat through any of his classes you know that he could take a complicated passage and make it so interesting and much more simple. He was always the person who organized our family reunions and always made sure that we had our own Bible study for those who wanted to attend before the reunion. He was so dedicated to Jesus and The Word that it was easy to see it in him. He was one of the wittiest people I have ever been around and was very funny. He had a thing for history and always knew more about the heritage of our family than anyone. He could tell some of the funniest “stories” about some of our ancestors that you ever hear!. I will miss talking with him but I know that the people he is talking to today are people that he has a lot of catching up with to do. Rest in peace Ron and thank you for the good times you have given me!