Ronald Wentzel Jr.

Ronald E. "Moose" Wentzel Jr., 51, died January 12, 2014 in his Spring Township residence.

He was the husband of Dianne L. (Berkel) Wentzel, whom he married April 6, 2002.

Born November 13, 1962 in Reading, PA, he was a son of Jeanne E. (Miller), wife of Thomas Weidner of Sinking Spring, and the late Ronald E. Wentzel Sr.

Ronnie was the proud father of Joshua James Wentzel, a third-grader at Whitfield Elementary School.

He is also survived by a grandmother, Ruth E. Weidner of Douglassville, and a brother, Jeffrey, husband of Jennifer L. Weidner of Sinking Spring.

He was a 1980 graduate of Governor Mifflin High School, 1984 graduate of the Reading Police Academy and a 1989 graduate of the Reading Fire Academy.

Ronnie was a member of Advent Lutheran Church, West Lawn.

He was employed as a police officer with numerous Berks County Police Departments and was most proud of being the Police Chief of the West Lawn Police Department.

Ronnie then started his firefighting career in 1989 with the City of Reading Fire Department, working his way through the ranks from Firefighter, Training Lieutenant and last working as a First Deputy Fire Chief, "Car 4". He has earned many certifications throughout his career, including Firefighter III; Fire Officer II; Fire Instructor I and Certified Fire and Explosive Investigator.

Some of Ronnie's numerous memberships including, International Association of Firefighters, Local 1803; PA Association of Arson Investigators (P.A.A.I); National Association of Fire Investigators (N.A.F.I); International Association of Arson Investigators (N.A.A.I); Keystone Chapter of Fire Service Instructors and PA Local Level Instructor.

He was also employed 12 years with the NHRA on the Safety Safari Team, traveling along the East Coast for the National and Division 1 events.

He dedicated his life to volunteering, starting as a Junior Firefighter with the Keystone Fire Company of Shillington and joining several other Berks County Fire Departments over his 30+ years of service. He served as the Fire Chief of Liberty Fire Company of Sinking Spring until the creation of the Western Berks Fire Department, where he became a Deputy Fire Chief.

Ronnie was also a certified EMT, first serving with Governor Mifflin Ambulance and later with Western Berks Ambulance Association, and was a member of the Incident Management Team of the East Central Task Force and the Fire & Rescue & Hazmat Committee for East Central Task Force.

Services will be held Friday at 11:00 a.m. in Advent Lutheran Church, 16 Telford Ave., West Lawn, PA 19609. Viewings will be held Thursday evening, 4:00 - 9:00 p.m. and Friday morning 8:00 - 10:00 a.m. in Edward J. Kuhn Funeral Home, Inc., 739 Penn Ave., West Reading, PA 19611.

In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made payable to Joshua J. Wentzel, (for the benefit of his education), c/o Fulton Bank, 2100 Van Reed Road, Wyomissing, PA 19610.

For online condolences, visit www.kuhnfuneralhome.com.