Ronald L. Fletcher

Ronald L. Fletcher, 88, of Winterset died April 11, 2019 at Mercy Medical Center in Des Moines. A visitation will be held from 9:30 to 11 a.m., Monday, April 15 at Ochiltree Funeral Service in Winterset and a memorial service will begin at 11 a.m., with a luncheon to immediately follow. Burial will be in the Iowa Veterans Cemetery, near Van Meter at 2:00 p.m., Monday. Memorials may be directed to the Winterset Community Band and/or Winterset Law Enforcement and online condolences can be left at ochiltree.com. Ronald L. Fletcher, son of Herman L. and Ruth (Spittler) Fletcher, was born November 14, 1930 in Sidney, Iowa. He was united in marriage with Darlene Wright on August 1, 1954 in Sidney, Iowa and to this union, two children were born, Cynthia Ruth and Dale Leslie. Ronald grew up in Sidney and completed school there. While in school, he was active in chorus and band. After graduation from high school, he attended college at Peru, Nebraska, working on a degree in Education and Music. He obtained a one-year teaching certificate and started teaching in Fremont County, Iowa at the Mayflower Rural School, east of Sidney. He taught 7th and 8th grade at Percival, Iowa. While teaching, he served in Company E. National Guard in Shenandoah as Company Clerk. He entered service in February 1952, serving in the United States Marine Corps. He served for two years during the Korean War and was stationed at El Toro Marine Base at Santa Ana, California. While in the Marine Corps, he worked as an instructor in a leadership school for Staff NCOs and Officers. Upon completion of his service, he went back to college to work on his degree at Peru, Nebraska. He married Darlene in August of 1954 and they moved to Honey Creek, Nebraska where he was teaching. Next, they moved to Sanborn, Iowa where Ron taught 6th grade and they began to have a family. Cindy was born and a couple years later Dale was born. They lived in Sanborn in 1983 for a total of four years before moving to Arnolds Park, Iowa. While at Sanborn, Ron served as Scout Master for two years. While living at Arnolds Park, Ron taught Band and Chorus and also high school English for part of the year when a teacher was killed in a car accident. They moved the next year to Ayrshire, Iowa where Ron taught Band and Chorus and some high school English. While in Ayrshire, Ron served as Scout Master for many years. While in Ayrshire, he was certified to be a Librarian and Media Director. Ron stayed in Ayrshire for 11 years before moving to Mormon Trail School at Garden Grove, Iowa. He served as Band Director there for one year before going to Winterset Community School where he served as Media Director for the district. At the time that he came to Winterset, he served the five libraries that were in different parts of the school district. He worked at Winterset for 17 years before retiring there. While at Winterset, he also taught some English classes and occasionally helped with the band. He became a judge for the Iowa High School Music Association and judged instrumental and vocal contests for a great number of years. After retiring, he and Darlene moved to Missouri where they lived for a few years before moving back to Iowa and settling at Sun Valley, near Mt. Ayr. After living there for six years, they moved back to Winterset. Since they moved back, Ron did a lot of subbing at the Winterset School District. During all this time, starting in high school, Ron worked at the Sidney Rodeo, first answering phones, and then selling tickets in the ticket office. He also played in the Sidney Rodeo Band during his high school years. He has worked in the ticket office at Sidney for over 60 years. After returning to Winterset, he played Baritone in the Community Band and occasionally directed it. He is a member of the American Legion Post 128 at Sidney. He was also a member of ISEA and NEA. Ron is survived by his wife, Darlene; children, Cindy Fletcher and Dale (Kristi) Fletcher; four grandchildren, Michael (Cindy) Fritz, Sarah (Eric) Updike, Ashley Harvey and Faylan Harvey; and nine great-grandchildren. He was preceded in death by his parents.