Ronald Lee Strause

Ronald Lee Strause, 84, of Frisco, Texas, passed away December 5, 2023, surrounded by members of his family in McKinney, Texas.

Ron was born Oct 5, 1939, in Sandusky, Ohio to his proud parents, Kenneth Robert Strause and Thelma Madeline (Longberry) Strause of Lakeside, Ohio. The family moved to nearby Port Clinton, Ohio where Ron graduated from high school with the class of 1957. Ron went to college at Bowling Green University and received a bachelor’s degree in education in 1961. He was a member and President of Phi Kappa Psi fraternity. In his junior year of college, Ron was coming off the beach at Lake Erie in Port Clinton and was hailed by friends in a Buick convertible. Ron jumped into the car and found himself sitting next to Marilyn Sue Wagner and it was love at first sight. Ron and Marilyn were married immediately after his graduation in 1961 and were inseparable until Marilyn’s passing in May of 2022.

Ron and Marilyn moved to Fairborn, Ohio where Ron taught Industrial Arts for six years and Practical Arts, in Dayton, Ohio for two years. In the summer of 1969, Ron was offered an opportunity by his childhood friends in the Biro family, to manage and run a new manufacturing facility called Sir Steak Machinery, that Biro Manufacturing had acquired in Acton, Massachusetts. Ron and Marilyn moved their young and growing family to Littleton, Massachusetts where Ron worked for the next twenty-five years before relocating the company to Mansfield, Ohio in 1994. By the time Ron retired in 2004 he was President of Sir Steak as well as a member of Biro Manufacturing’s Board of Directors.

Ron and Marilyn lived a long, wonderful, happy life together raising six children, and enjoyed many quality years in retirement filled with travel and RV adventures across the US and Canada. Ron was absolutely thrilled to make what turned out to be his final trip to his lake house on Lake Erie in Marblehead, Ohio this past summer, before returning to his independent living facility, Parkview, in Frisco, Texas in October where he wintered near many of his children.

Ron was preceded in death by his father Kenneth Robert Strause, his mother Thelma Madeline (Longberry) Strause, his brother James Fredrick Strause, and his wife of nearly 60 years, Marilyn Sue (Wagner) Strause. He is survived by his children – son, Kevin and wife Melissa of McKinney, Texas; son, Dean and wife Morgan of Corinth, Texas; son, Craig and wife Susan of Sunrise Beach Village, Texas; son, Eric and wife Maria of Apex, North Carolina; daughter, Julie of Mansfield, Ohio, and daughter Trudy of Tampa, Florida. He is also survived by his four grandchildren and two great-granddaughters: granddaughter, Camille Wilson and husband Cameron; grandson, Derek Strause, his wife Stephanie and great-granddaughters Elliott and Margo, granddaughter, Sydney, and granddaughter, Avery.

A memorial service will be held for Ron and Marilyn on July 13, 2024, at 1:00pm at Neidecker, Crosser & Priesman Funeral Home & Cremation Service, Peninsula Chapel, 7755 East Harbor Road, Marblehead, Ohio with internment, at Sackett Cemetery in Ottawa County, Marblehead, Ohio. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to The American Cancer Society. You may donate directly to his page at: raiseyourway.donordrive.com/campaign/In-Memory-of-Ron-Strause