WICKLUND, Ronald A., age 87

Died: Tuesday, December 19th, 2017

Celebration of Life: 2:00 p.m. on Friday, January 19, 2018 at Evergreen Funeral Home with Pastor Herb Prahl officiating

Visitation: one hour prior to the service at the funeral home

interment: a private interment will be held at a later date

In lieu of flowers, the family would prefer memorials to St. Jude's Children's Cancer Center.
https://www.stjude.org/

Ronald "Ron" A. Wicklund, age 87, died peacefully in his sleep on Tuesday, December 19, 2017 in his Eau Claire home.

Ron was born May 22, 1930 to the late Arnold and Clara (Skaare) Wicklund in Eau Claire. He graduated from Eau Claire High School and attended college at UWEC until he joined the United States Army Air Corps, now known as at the U.S. Air Force. He proudly served our country as a Staff Sergeant during the Korean War in the field of cartography. While stationed in Germany, he met and fell in love with Margaret Quarz of Kaiserslautern. In June, 1954, they were married in Kindsbach, Germany. After returning to the states, Ron worked for many years at Uniroyal as a time study engineer and a security guard. He dedicated over 40 years to Uniroyal leading up to his retirement in 1992 following a heart attack.

Ron loved to water ski in his younger years while the family lived on Lake Altoona. He was also a golf enthusiast and has walked many miles on golf courses from coast to coast. He boasted fondly of hitting a hole in one with only an 8-iron on his grandson's birthday in January of 2000. He loved to caddy for the Masters Tournaments in Torrey Pines, California and has acquired a collection of autographed golf balls from some of the greatest golfers of the day.

Ron was also an avid card player. He enjoyed afternoons at the Elks Lodge and was a member of Local 402. Many fond memories were made as "Ronnie Luck" applied his "slippery slide" shuffle to weekend cribbage games with his wife, daughter, and son-in-law.

Ron also loved to travel and to be constantly on the move. Even after retirement, he seldom sat still. When not traveling in their motor home, golfing or bowling, Ron applied his ever energetic social skills to shuttling customers and parts for Eau Claire Ford. He worked at Eau Claire Ford until he started his battle with Leukemia in 2014.

Nothing could get Ron down, but fighting cancer at the age of 84 was an uphill battle. He powered through four rounds of chemotherapy, but suffered a setback with an infection in his chemo port that almost took him too soon. But "Ronnie Luck" wasn't done yet. He persevered through the treatment while at Dove Healthcare, and in the end, emerged victorious to enjoy another two and a half years in his new apartment with Marge where they were able to enjoy a simpler life with one another.

Ron is survived by his wife, Margaret; son, Steven Wicklund; daughters, Patricia Sinnett, Debra Ann (Steven) Bailey, and Maria Louise (Kyle) Herbert;grandchildren, Angela Sinnett (great grandchildren, Christina, Teague and Breya), Zachariah Marquez, Eoin Nelson, Kurt Herbert, and Kody Herbert; and many dear friends.

Ron was preceded in death by his parents; sisters, Jerene Kinderman and Maxine Peterson; niece, Jane Penterman, and nephew, Richard Peterson.