Ron McClure will be remembered in Rock County for his kind demeanor and compassion for humanity, especially during his years wearing a badge.
McClure worked 33 years in law enforcement, 25 years in Rock County and 12 of those as sheriff in the county he grew up in.
“I loved my job. I loved helping people,” McClure told the Star Herald in a Jan. 20, 2003, story about his retirement.
In all those years, he wore many hats along with his uniform, including community leader, weather watcher and father figure.
“Everybody looks to law enforcement,” McClure said in 2003.
“They know what’s going on with the weather and even know where most people live, what they drive and who their kids are dating.”
Rock County Dispatcher Terri Ebert worked with McClure for 20 years and said McClure always treated everyone fairly and with respect, “the way he would want to be treated, whether it was his co-workers or the general public,” Ebert told the Star Herald last week.
She said McClure will be remembered as being a positive person who made people around him feel good about themselves.
“He loved his job and I think he would have worked every day of the year,” Ebert said.
This was true, except for death notices, Ebert said.
“The thing he hated about his job was having to tell a parent that their child had been killed in an accident or when he had to tell a wife that her husband passed away,” Ebert said. “He sat down and cried with the family.”
Clyde Menning worked with McClure for decades, their careers dating back to the days when Ole Hommen was sheriff.
“He’ll be remembered for being a really good Rock County citizen in the way he helped the people of Rock County — just being a really good guy,” Menning said.
“He just was really a kind, easy to get along with individual. He really cared for the people of Rock County.”
Menning said that during McClure’s three terms as sheriff, he never verbalized that they should be compassionate in carrying out their duties, but he personified compassion.
“He just wanted people who worked in law enforcement in Rock County to be fair and understanding with the people we dealt with,” Menning said.
“The people in law enforcement understood we had a job that needed to be done — and we had to sometimes deal with undesirables who would do horrible things, but we understood we had to be fair and understanding with everyone we dealt with.”
Menning and McClure retired the same time, at the end of 2002.
At his retirement party McClure told the Star Herald law enforcement was always his love. “It’s been a real honor to serve the citizens for 12 years as sheriff, and I’d like to say thanks for the last 25 years.”
McClure died Tuesday, Nov. 10, from complications related to frontal lobe dementia. He was 69 years old.
His obituary appears on Page 7A.
‘He didn’t get to live like he wanted to’
Ron enjoyed his early years of retirement, helping with his sons’ construction business and spending time with his wife, Katie, and their children and grandchildren.
In 2006 he was diagnosed with frontal lobe dementia, which eventually robbed his family of the man they knew and loved.
Katie spoke with the Star Herald Monday about Ron’s final years and how she and his family dealt with the progressively debilitating illness.
“We leaned on our faith, friends and family,” Katie said.
“People going through this need to lean as much as they can on the support of others. … Educate themselves on Alzheimer’s and dementia so they know how to deal with it. Get support. Go to support groups. You can’t do it on your own.”
She married McClure in 1999. “We had fun, but we didn’t have enough time together,” she said. “… There’s never enough.”
She said the community may have known more about Ron’s early symptoms than she did. “Everybody knew Ron, so if he’d be out wandering, they’d just bring him home,” she said. “If he was out with his dog, Jack would just bring him home.”
As painful as it was for his family, Katie said she felt worse for Ron than anyone else. “This sure wasn’t what he had envisioned for his retirement,” she said.
“He just loved life so much. He didn’t get to live like he wanted to.”
Katie lost her previous husband, Charlie, in a car-train crash in 1996, a sudden loss that she said was in some ways easier than the slow loss of the past several years.
“I think we can all say we’re relieved it’s over for him,” she said. “But it was nice to have had the opportunity to say good-bye.”
Ron enjoyed watching the birds at the Pipestone Good Samaritan Center where he lived for the past 2 1/2 years. “He’d say to me, ‘I want to be like that. I want to fly away.’”
On the day he died, Katie said she told him she was there for him, but whenever he was ready to “fly away,” he could go ahead.
“And I watched him take three breaths, and the fourth one never came,” she said. “I was so glad I was able to be there.”
The funeral was Saturday, and Katie said she finds comfort in hearing about how people remember Ron and how he positively influenced them during his law enforcement years.
“And that’s how we should remember Ron,” Katie said. “Like he was back then.”