Ronald A. Derechailo

Ronald Anthony Derechailo, age 84, died peacefully the evening of Saturday November 1st at the Wakefield Care Center in Wakefield, NE. In 2022 he moved from California to Wayne, NE to be closer to family.

Ron was born on December 10, 1940, in Matawan, N.J. to parents Anna (Danuck) Derechailo and Andrew Derechailo.

Ron and his older brother Andrew Jr. (“Junie”) were raised by their mother Anna in their home on 18 Main St. in Matawan. Andrew Sr. was killed in an accident while Anna was pregnant with Ron, so he never knew his father. His mother’s brother, Uncle Bill, became a father figure and Ron spent many happy summers helping on his farm in New Jersey.

Highly intelligent and an excellent student, Ron graduated from St. Joseph’s High School and earned an engineering degree from the New Jersey Institute of Technology. A second generation Polish American, Ron learned to play the accordion and worked his way through college in part by playing at dance halls and events. After graduating from NJIT he pursued a master’s degree in engineering from Stevens Institute of Technology and began his engineering career at Western Union.

In 1965 Ron married Cathy Young of Point Pleasant Beach N.J. They eventually moved to West Milford, N.J. and had two children, daughters Melissa Jane Derechailo and Amanda Elizabeth Derechailo.

After Ron and Cathy divorced, Ron moved to Novato, California to take a job with Harris Digital, where he worked until his retirement. The west coast was the perfect place for Ron to pursue his love of running (which he continued through age 80) hiking, camping, and skiing. He was also a big lover of the arts, frequently attending the symphony, ballet and opera.

A voracious reader of non-fiction, reading multiple books each week, Ron passed on his love of reading to his daughters. They have fond memories of going to the library during their summer visits, leaving with stacks of books to keep them occupied when they weren’t swimming in the pool.

Ron also loved to travel, visiting multiple European countries, South America, Mexico and China. In a time before GPS, Ron always knew how to get where he was going, no matter where he was, with only occasional glances a map.

A straightforward and direct person, Ron told you like it was without beating around the bush or mincing words. Although hurtful at times, it was also comforting in a world where people don’t always say what they mean or mean what they say. His sense of humor and acerbic wit always made for lots of fun and laughter whenever he was with his family, whether it was playing “Tough School” with his grandsons, or watching the Miss America Pageant with his young daughters, howling with laughter at the contestants’ inane answers to the interview questions and laughing at the not-so-talented, talent round.

Ron did not want a viewing or any kind of service; he asked to be cremated “in a cardboard box” and that his ashes be spread on his mother, father, and maternal grandmother’s graves. Ron is survived by his brother, Andrew Derechailo; daughter Melissa Derechailo and son-in-law David Bohnert; daughter Amanda Derechailo; grandsons Ethan Bohnert, Aidan Bohnert, and Nolan Bohnert; and many cousins on the Derechailo and Danuck sides of the family.