Obituary of Erling Reidar Ronning

Our dear dad, Erling Reidar Ronning passed, to be with Jesus, on May 12, 2023 in Chandler, Arizona at the age of 92. He passed peacefully with his daughter, Lori Ronning, by his bedside.

Our dad started his life journey in Valer, Norway in 1931, as the 10th out of 11 children. He grew up and joined the Norwegian Merchant Marines as a telegraphist but wanted a brighter future so decided to sail to Canada looking for more opportunity. He worked construction, married Inge, and eventually moved to the United States and graduated from Indiana Technical Institute with an electrical engineering degree. He worked for several companies in New York, Seattle, Arizona and Germany but moved back to the Pacific Northwest and remained at The Boeing Company as an engineer until retirement.

Our dad was a wonderful, funny, smart and strong Norwegian man who loved his family and spending time outdoors. He took his family on many fun camping trips, skiing and enjoyed watching sports. He remarried later in life to Dorothy and they enjoyed retirement traveling the US in their RV, visiting the national parks, hiking and snow skiing. They loved skiing, and he especially loved Nordic, and skied at many places in the US as well as in Europe. They also loved walks along the beach and enjoyed trips to Hawaii and Mexico.

Erling is survived by his wife Dorothy Surgenor Ronning, his two daughters; Lori Ronning and Vicki Sapp, his step sons Nic Surgenor and Clint Surgenor and their spouses and 7 grandchildren and three great grandchildren.

He was preceded in death by his 3 brothers, 7 sisters and mother and father who lived and passed away in Norway. He was also preceded in death by his granddaughter, Sarah.

A “Remembering Erling” Zoom is scheduled for July 16, 2023 at 9:30 a.m. PST.

A separate small personal family gathering will take place later to honor and remember Dad by spreading ashes at a location that he loved.