Ronald Layne Perine

1947 - 2025

Ronald Layne Perine

July 1, 1947 – Nov. 27, 2025

It is with profound sadness that we announce Ronald Layne Perine was called home to be with his Lord and Savior on Thursday, November 27, 2025 at the age of 78, after a long, hard fought battle with diabetes caused by Agent Orange exposure while he served in Vietnam. He was at home, where he wanted to always be.

Ron was born on July 1, 1947 in Modesto, California to Wayne and Lola Perine. He was very close to his grandparents Marcus and Opal Layne and spent many of his younger years at their house.

His family moved around the country before settling in Strathmore where Ron graduated from Strathmore High School in 1966. While in high school, Ron met Cheryl Patton the love of his life and they had an eye for each other for most of their teen years. Their first real date was at the Baccalaureate in May of 1966. Cheryl's sister-in-law drove her to the Baccalaureate and when she came to take Cheryl back home, Ron said "I'll take her home!" A few weeks later at Disneyland Grad Night, Ron asked Cheryl to marry him. Cheryl replied, "I'll think about it" (not that she thought very long or very hard).

Ron enrolled at Porterville College and attended a few classes while working part-time. Ron and Cheryl were set to be married on October 14, 1966. The wedding invitations were already printed when Ron was drafted and scheduled to go to boot camp at Ford Ord Army Base in Monterey on the same day as the wedding. They hand wrote the new October 7 wedding date on each invitation and were married for six days when he left for Fort Ord. After boot camp, he was stationed in Massachusetts and, after a few months, Cheryl took a week-long bus trip to live with him at the Army Base. They lived in one-room barracks and had to share a community bathroom. When Cheryl went shopping and spent $50 for groceries, Ron thought it was an outrageous amount. There was no kitchen to cook in but he got the idea of using a heater vent to warm cans of beans and vegetables. With no refrigerator, they kept food cold by putting it outside the window in the snow. Cheryl was there for only 30 days when all civilian families were told to go home because the soldiers were getting new reassignment orders. Ron's new reassignment was in Vietnam.

Ron received a seven-day R&R pass in February of 1968 while still in Vietnam. They decided to meet up in Hawaii so they could finally have a honeymoon. They were only together for five days as two of those days were travel time for Ron. They were too young to rent a vehicle, so they had to walk everywhere and tried to see as much of the island as possible.

Ron served in Vietnam for 13 months. He was only supposed to be there for 12 months but because of the Tet Offensive (a major attack on South Vietnam by the Viet Cong that failed) he had to stay another month since it was unsafe for planes to fly out. Ron came back home, and he and Cheryl drove to Virginia where he was assigned to finish the last six months of his two-year commitment before his discharge. While in Virginia, Cheryl became pregnant with their first child and had strong cravings for milk and eggs. Ron was able to bring home several gallons of milk every week that was otherwise going to be dumped down the drain, which saved them a tremendous amount of money. They lived in an old converted barracks with a kitchenette so Cheryl was able to cook. They spent most of their weekends sight-seeing in Virginia.

Ron served as a supply clerk while stationed in Vietnam and fortunately wasn't in combat, but he was very close to the fighting. He was exposed to Agent Orange pesticide and watched it fall from the planes in the forests. At age 42 he was diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes from Agent Orange exposure.

After being discharged from the United States Army in 1968, Ron and Cheryl moved back to Porterville and he immediately started looking for a job. He was hired at Jostens three days later due to his veteran status. He worked at Jostens from 1968 (Cheryl started at Jostens in 1970) until the plant closure in 1997. He started as a shipping clerk and in 1972 became a lead person and multi-machine operator in bindery. In 1974 he was promoted to Bindery Supervisor. After the Porterville Jostens plant closure, he worked at Gilstrapss Janitorial as a janitorial technician for ten months. He then worked for Console Foods in Lindsay for a year until the plant closed down. In 1999 Ron started working as a Security Officer in the Forensic area at the Porterville Developmental Center. In 2000 he took CNA training to become a Psych Tech assistant and worked there until he was forced to retire for medical reasons in 2006.

In 1997 after the Jostens closure, Ron and Cheryl became foster parents with Tulare County. They were foster parents for 15 years and took in more than 300 children mostly teenage girls. In 2007 their life changed when they got a set of seven-month-old twins. They adopted Josh and Beth and became parents to two more children in addition to their grown children.

Ron and Cheryl earned the honor of Foster Parents of the Year in 2004 and 2008. Many times after these girls left, they would ask to be placed back into Ron and Cheryl's home. A lot of them became family and stayed several years after turning 18. Ron and Cheryl were not just foster parents; they were real parents. They treated every child like their own. Quite a few girls still keep in touch and come back to visit often. The girls told Ron and Cheryl that they taught them how a loving family was supposed to be treated and have raised their own families in the same way Ron and Cheryl treated them: with unconditional love and respect.

Ron was very active at home even after he had his left leg amputated in 2004. He was always outside doing what needed to be done on their five-acre property. He wore out numerous prosthetic legs in the process.

Ron and Cheryl were always together and were involved in several community clubs, including the Porterville Optimist Club activities especially, Camp Country Jamboree Children's Cancer Camp from 2003 to 2012 and the Sequoia Dutch Ovens. They met many new life-long friends through these organizations.

Ron was also a member of the Ironsights Hunting Club since 2002. He went camping, hunting and fishing with his oldest son Terry and became Dad to the men in the club. Even when Ron couldn't go camping with them, the boys came to see him at home.

In 2014 when their water well went dry, Fred and Elva Beltran along with the Porterville Area Coordinating Council helped the family with the setup of a new well. Ron and Cheryl helped the community once again by handing out bottled water and supplies four days a week for several hours a day to help people in East Porterville. Ron carried cases of water to people in need, even though he had a hard time walking himself.

Anyone that knew Ron Perine, knew he was a strong, proud man that protected everyone around him. He never gave himself enough credit that he was loved by so many people. Countless people have called him a Gentle Giant but this gentle giant was most proud to protect his social butterfly the love of his life, Cheryl.

Ron is preceded in death by his parents, brothers Warren Lincoln and Don Perine, and sister Jill Perine.

Ron is survived by his loving wife of 59 years, Cheryl; daughter Diane Vickers and husband Chris; son Terry Perine and wife Shannon; son Joshua Perine and daughter Bethany Perine all of Porterville; daughters Jamie Hickok and husband Tony of Bakersfield, Paula Aviles of Squaw Valley, Pearl Ortega of Visalia and Renee Silkwood of Missouri; grandchildren Emily Davidson and husband Jesse, Christopher Vickers and wife Kelly, and Nicole Vickers, all of Porterville; and Cody Allred of Fresno; 10 great-children and a great-granddaughter due in April of 2026; sister Jane Criss of Reno; brothers Dennis Perine, Mike Perine and wife Dorothy all of Missouri; and David Perine of South Carolina; many nieces, nephews, extended family members, and countless friends. Ron is also survived by his childhood friend since the age of 14, Abe Belardo (who was best man at the Perine wedding) and wife Mary of Delano.

The family thanks Ladonna and Cathy from Just Like Home who have become part of the family. They have shown such love and support while caring for Ron at home for the last 14 months. The family also thanks Christa from Seva Health, and to Seva Hospice for all their help.

A Memorial Service will be held at Myers Chapel in Porterville, California on Saturday, December 20, 2025 at 12:30 p.m. A potluck reception will follow at the Perine home.

Arrangements are being handled by Myers Funeral Service & Crematory, 248 N. E Street, Porterville, California.

Online condolences may be made to the family at http://www.myersfuneral.com.

God saw he was getting tired

and a cure was not to be,

So He put His arms around

him and whispered, Come with Me.

With tearful eyes we watched him

suffer and saw him fade away.

Although we loved him dearly, we

could not make him stay.

A golden heart stopped beating,

hardworking hands to rest,

God broke our hearts to prove

to us He only takes the best.

­Author Unknown