Dr. Michael Robert Roner

Dr. Michael Robert Roner, resident of Mansfield, Texas, formerly of Cottage Grove, Oregon, passed away on February 21, 2024, at the age of 65 years.
Michael was born in Milton, FL to Charles Robert and Sylvia Roner. Since his dad was in the Navy his family moved around a lot and he spent time in Spain, Midway Island, Washington, Oregon and Ohio. He was married (and later divorced) in NC and then moved to FL and finally TX. Mike was an avid researcher and scientist who got his doctorate at Miami University in Ohio and did his post-doc at Duke University. He then went on to do cancer research at various universities, as well as taught Virology, Immunology and Medical Mycology to thousands of students over a 20+ year career.
He was incredibly brilliant and loved to tell stories about all of the interesting places he'd been and things that he had done in his life. He loved to travel and dreamed of days where he could go back to one of his favorite places, Yellowstone National Park. Yellowstone and Colorado were some his favorite places to visit. He devoted his life to teaching and always wanted his students to thrive and they said that he was "the embodiment of a scientist" and "one of the kindest professors" they ever had.
Michael loved watching old re-runs of M*A*S*H, taking care of his many thriving plants (he had a very green thumb) and enormous fish tank, and playing board games with his daughters. He loved decorating his house for the holidays, his favorite season was Christmas, and he loved a good Hallmark movie, no matter how cheesy and hopelessly romantic.
Michael is survived by his daughters Meghan and Shannon Roner, his cat Callie and his sister Kitty Ann McCrady.
Michael is preceded in death by his mother Sylvia Lone Lois Thiede Roner (07/23/09) and his Father Charles Robert Roner (03/05/2014).
A Memorial Service will be held on March 9, 2024, at 11:00am at Blessing Funeral Home Chapel in Mansfield, TX.
Memorial donations may be made to Yellowstone Forever (a partner of the National Park service's doing priority projects for Yellowstone National Park).