Ronald Steen

Ronald James Steen passed away on July 24, 2021, at the age of 91 at his home in Englewood, Colorado.

Ron was a small town farm kid from Jasper Minnesota who dreamed of airplanes and flight growing up, in addition to his interests in music, hunting and fishing following the path of his father.

His first departure from the farm was a stint in the Army stationed in Germany.

Returning home he married Arlene Weineke from Lismore, Minnesota whom he met at a dance where he was performing in his father's orchestra as a trumpet and trombone player.

They then went to California to get his education as an aeronautical engineer.  After completing his education they settled in Colorado where he began his professional career at Martin Marietta as an engineer.  He eventually retired from Martin Marietta having worked on notable projects such as the Titan missile and Sky lab.  For a short while he also worked at Sterns and Roger designing nuclear power plant handling equipment.

Ron and Arlene adopted two children Thomas and Dawn (Pamela). In addition to being survived by them he is also survived by his bothers Paul and Alan, his Sister Shelly, 6 grand children and 10 great grandchildren.

Ron had many interests throughout his life but the key ones were his outdoor activities, flight and music.

He took many trips to Canada to go to fly in fishing camps in addition to routine trips all over the local area. For a time he also had his own business with a fly in fishing camp in Saskatchewan.  He was an avid hunter and pursued all manner of game from pheasants to elk.  He was an excellent marksman and was shooting trap well into his 80's. He also shared his hunting and shooting skills as a hunter safety instructor for 40 years.  He taught his son and grandson all about the outdoors and how to be a marksman.

Ron was very inspired by the airplanes of WWII and his true wish as an engineer was to build airplanes. His favorite plane from WWII was the P-38 Lightning. He was also in the air at a young age with his uncle Glen hunting fox from an Areonca Champ on skis. He didn’t quite meet that goal as an aerospace engineer but still found his way into the air.  He learned to be a private pilot, also one of his lifetime goals.  He even built his own ultra light aircraft, although this was not quite a perfect success as he never managed to quite make a completed flight that did not result in a bent airplane. He also managed to go up on a flight,  later in life in a real WWII aircraft, a P-51 Mustang.

Ron continued his musical interests throughout his life and played multiple instruments to include the trumpet, sax, valve trombone, and a little banjo.  He had his own band where he played for weddings and dances. At 88 years old he still played his trumpet at Arlene's funeral service at Ft Logan.

Ron was also a craftsman and built many kinds of model aircraft.  His passion for hunting and guns included building stocks for firearms right down to checkering them by hand both for himself and friends.

One of his favorite places in Colorado was the area around Rand Colorado.   He was part of a group of guys that had built from the ground up, a cabin where he spent many days doing activities from hunting and fishing to ATV ridiong and snowmobiling. He volunteered with the Division of Wildlife and stocked many of the beaver ponds in the area.  On his last day he had topo maps of the area laid out on his coffee table undoubtedly still studying all the 4x4 roads and trails in the area and reminiscing about all of his good times there.

Ron was very resilient and still lived in his own home, took care of himself and was driving at 91 years of age.  His memory was clear and he could easily tell tales of his life's adventures clear back to his life on the farm and hunting in the 40s.

Ron, left a note on his bedroom mirror with a quote he wanted put in his obituary:

“We’re all travelers in this world. From the sweet grass to the packing house. Birth ’til death. We travel between the eternities.”

**Robert Duval from the movie Broken Trail**

Ron will sorely be missed but comfort is taken that he lived a long and healthy life and that he was able to experience many of his dreams and pursue his hobbies.

May your eyes be on the horizon and a rod or gun in your hand.

Graveside Service Friday, October 15, 2021, 9:00 am, Fort Logan National Cemetery, area A.