78, passed away January 28, 2017. He is survived by his beloved wife Joyce (“J”) and
former spouse Shirley Preiss; loving father of Ronald (Jennifer) Preiss, Kelly (Richard) Simonds, Karen
(Michael) Wilson, Tina Preiss and step-daughters Marlene (Sam) Moore and Debra George; dearest grandfather
of Ashley, Nick, Mike, John, Gabe, Maddie, Jake, Sydney and Mitchell; dear brother of Wally (Harriet),
Joanne (Gabe) Vollet, Ginny (Keith) Barket and Mike (Diana) , uncle, cousin and friend to many.
Ron’s family has always been an important part of his life and he has always been an important part
of theirs. He very much enjoyed spending time with his children and their spouses. And, there are many
talented athletes among the grandchildren. He loved it when he could attend whichever sport they were
involved with.
Ron was from a family of five siblings, which have joined together with their spouses almost each
month for twenty years to have dinner and stay close.
One of Ron’s accomplishments was the originating of the St. Joan of Arc annual Homecomingin 1972.
It’s still going on to this day.
Ron had a full, active life. He always enjoyed travelling and commented he always wanted to have
the next trip planned while enjoying a trip and loved to say “We’ve been there” every time a place he’d been
was shown on television. He especially loved cruising and went to many exotic places, including Alaska, the
Caribbean a few times, Nassau and more recently a trip on the Baltic that included such wonderful cities as
Amsterdam, Berlin (a little bus ride involved here!), Stockholm (Sweden), St. Petersburg (Russia), Helsinki
(Finland) and Copenhagen (Denmark).
Ron also enjoyed road trips! He travelled most of the United States (and a little of Canada), though a
trip to Hawaii involved a lot of flying! He and his first wife, Shirley, took his parents to Hawaii in the 70’s.
Ron served in the military in the Air Force Reserve and was stationed in Etain, France. He and his
second wife, “J”, were able to travel to Europe in 2011 and see many of the sights Ron saw in 1960 while in
the service. A wonderful trip!
Then there were the trips to Florida once or twice a year. An avid golfer, Ron and “J” have had
residences in the Fort Myers area since 2003. Going there was something he always looked forward to . . .
often counting the days! He and “J” have many good friends in Florida, which made for a lot of fun outings!
And, speaking of golf . . . Ron had 2 holes in one! And, they were only a month apart! One in Union,
Missouri at Birch Creek and one at Heritage Palms, where they wintered for 10 years.
Before golf took up much of his free time, bowling was his favorite pastime! He was a good bowler,
too. He bowled a 299 once and a couple of 298’s, before he had to give it up because of his Neuropathy.
Ron didnt just play sports, he loved watching baseball, football and hockey. He had season tickets for
many years.
Other than these fun pastimes, dining out was at the top of his list! He had many friends in the
restaurant business and liked to frequent as many as he could fit in, in both St. Louis and Florida.
As most know here in the St. Louis area, food was a prominent part of Ron’s life. He started making
pizzas in Schultz’s Tavern kitchen . That pizza venture grew quickly and became Ron and Shirley’s Restaurant
in 1972 on Watson and Pernod in St. Louis. It was so popular he expanded to 3 fast food and 3 full-size
restaurants. Ron was President of the local Missouri Restaurant Association in 1988. After almost 20 years,
Ron left the restaurant business and started a catering business with his daughter, Kelly, which has been
flourishing for almost 26 years. In 1996, the catering business expanded to include a banquet center . . . The
Christy, located in south St. Louis. Currently there are 2 banquet centers; the one in South St. Louis and an
additional location in O’Fallon, Missouri. Ron’s son, Ron, Jr. is the General Manager of the O’Fallon
location and Ron’s daughter, Karen is key to sales (both for the St. Louis location but also for the Picnic
People division). Throughout the years, both Tina and Marlene have worked as bartenders at various times
for The Christy and Ron worked with Debra regarding her restaurant in the Seattle area, imparting his
expertise to her. Ron sold his portion of the catering business and the St. Louis location to Kelly in 2012 when
he retired from catering, retaining co-ownership of the O’Fallon location.
In the end Ron succumbed to ALS. A horrible disease, Ron was fortunate enough to only have a few
months of symptoms, rather than years. He was only diagnosed just a few days before his passing and
consequently was able live out his life with few discomforts.
Services: Funeral from Kutis Affton Chapel, 10151 Gravois Rd. Tuesday, January 31, 9:15 AM to St. Joan of Arc Catholic Church for 10:00 AM Mass. Private interment at a later date. Visitation Monday, 4-8 PM