Ronald August Fasse

1933 - 2022

Ronald "Ron" August Fasse, 89, passed away peacefully Nov. 4, 2022, at his home in Bloomfield Hills, Mich., from congestive heart and kidney failure.

Born Sept. 30, 1933, in Detroit, Mich., to his late parents, John S. and Eleanor B. Fasse, Ron grew up in Detroit along with his three siblings: his late brother, John (known as Jack) Fasse, and late sister, Sharon (Lawrence) Maloney, both of the Detroit area, and his sister, Janet Kleczynski of Rochester, Mich.

Ron met the love of his life, Rosalie, in Detroit and married her in 1955 after a brief courtship. Growing up in the Motor City, Ron always loved his cars. We think it was the leopard skin seats and polished shine of his custom Buick convertible sedan that won over Rosalie all those years ago.

Ron and Rosalie raised three daughters: Cathy Ranke (John) of Bloomfield Hills, Mich., Pamela Fasse of Denver, Colo., and Lori O'Hern (Tom) of Palos Verdes, Calif. At the time of his death, Ron had nine grandchildren (Nick, Mark, Jessica, Courtenay, Emily, Tommy, Augie, Ellie and Maggie) and three great-grandchildren. A veritable "Mr. Fix-it" and strong believer in organizational excellence, Ron set up (and frequently appended and improved) a fully outfitted workshop in every home he owned. As a skilled carpenter with a head for mechanical work, he spent much of his free time in his shop. His children and then grandchildren knew not to disturb his enormous collection of tools, always carefully labeled and stored properly in place.

Ron was proud to have served in the U.S. Army at Fort Lewis in Washington state from 1956 to 1962, then studied and earned a Bachelor of Arts at the University of Detroit. In 1956, he also began a long (more than 40 years) and distinguished career with General Motors Corporation, earning multiple promotions and awards, enjoying benefits that included extensive international travel and driving a brand new company car every year. Ron ultimately retired in 1997 as director of Forward Planning.

His career was demanding and time consuming, and his work ethic was legendary, but he never skipped his summer vacations at Hubbard Lake with his family, fishing, touring the lake in an old row boat with a zippy 8 horsepower Evinrude and enjoying the company of friends and family. Legendary too was his ability to convince his children, and later his grandchildren, that fishing was all about "holding your mouth right." Some of us, to this day, pucker up and scowl reflexively whenever there's a pole in our hands.

After his retirement, Ron and Rosalie moved to Tennessee where they finally realized their dream of living in a lakefront home, this one in the beautiful community of Tellico Village where he was an active member of the GM Club and once served as president. Eventually Ron inspired his brother, Jack, to move nearby. Ron also bought himself a much larger boat with a joke's-on-you 250 horsepower engine that earned him the moniker "Captain Ron." His grandchildren were thrilled each summer as Ron gleefully towed them behind his speeding boat, cracking the whip at 40 mph while they clung desperately to a giant tube nicknamed, appropriately, the "Wild Thing." We are all sure he was secretly scoring points for himself whenever the kids were catapulted off the tube into the lake.

Ron was more of an armchair sports fan than an athlete all of his life, but he played golf in retirement with his wife, and enjoyed playing pool on the massive table at their lake house. Fittingly, he never divulged his scores in either game. Ron and Rosalie were also regular churchgoers and attended services at St. Thomas the Apostle Catholic Church in Lenoir City before his failing health required him to move back to Michigan in October 2021.

Ron was devoted to his wife Rosalie for 57 years until her passing May 21, 2014. He missed her terribly every day but continued to travel and spend time with friends and family until very recently.

Ron asked to be cremated and his ashes will be inurned next to his beloved late wife Rosalie at St. Thomas the Apostle Catholic Church columbarium in Lenoir City. A private ceremony will be held for family at a future date as per Ron's wishes. In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation in his name to one of Ron's favorite charities: St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, American Diabetes Association or the American Cancer Society.