Ronald Earl Ackerson

Birds chirping and flitting from cattail to cattail, the rustling of maple leaves as the squirrels dig for their dinner, a family of whitetail navigate the swamp as ducks fly overhead towards the lake just off his property.  Ron loved nature, hiking Isle Royale and coming face to face with a mother moose and her calf.  He loved to scour the woods for morel mushrooms every spring, explore the woods with his beagles, and the trickle of maple sap as it hit the buckets of his father’s (and then his brother Larry’s) sugar bush.  He enjoyed his hunting trips in which he would continually let the deer walk on by to share the thrill of the hunt with his hunting apprentices, Nick, Eric, Derek, and Tyron.

Ron continually worked towards bettering his life and cared deeply about those around him.  He would roar like a lion to put a smile on the faces of little ones, laugh at himself, was a patient listener and accepting of anyone.  He was a compassionate individual to his core.

Ronald Earl Ackerson was born September 8, 1949, enroute to St. Lawrence Hospital in Lansing, Michigan to Allyn Jay Ackerson and Margaret Ellen Shilton.  He grew up on their dairy farm in Sunfield, graduated from Portland High School in 1967 where he played football, participated in Golden Gloves boxing, and played the coronet.  He retired from Gestamp Mason LLC as a tool and dye repairman in 2020.

Ron was preceded in death by his parents, twin sons Jeremy and Eric, brother Larry and sister-in-law Sharon.  He leaves behind his wife Cindy, children Christine Spohr (Steven), Nicholas (Sara), Nathan (Karina), and Christopher Bennett (Jennifer), grandchildren Ashley Tupper (Chad), Eric Spohr (Tonian), Dylan Spohr, Elijah, Gideon, Rayneh, Emma and Holly and great grandchildren Ali, Zoie, Harper, Evalynn, Juliette, Cayson, Kingston, and great-great grandson Rylan.  He also loved his many nieces and nephews, brother John and sisters Patti Weller (Bill) Norma Russell (Grant) and Vicki Pontz (Rob Winkelman).

Ron and his wife Cindy attended Dexter Lake Church in Battle Creek and had hiked over 2000 miles on the North Country Trail with their dogs Emily and Selkie.  They enjoyed attending sports and school events of their grandchildren and great-grandchildren.  Ron died January 23 doing something he loved, walking their 10-acre retirement property in Marshall.

Visitation 5-8 PM Friday Jan. 27,2023 at the Sunfield United Methodist Church. Celebration of Life Service 11:00 AM – Saturday Jan. 28, 2023, with visitation 10-11 AM, also at the Church.

Graveside Service 1:30 PM Saturday at the Danby Cemetery following the luncheon at the Church.

Please visit a special webpage made especially for Ron, to light a candle in his memory or leave a condolence for the family. www.RosierFuneralHome.com

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