Ronald Schalla

Ronald (Ron) Schalla, beloved husband, father, and grandfather passed away Friday, January 5, 2024, at home in Kennewick, Washington. Ron was born July 30, 1943, in Chicago, Illinois to parents James Earl Schalla and Helen Marie Schalla Hambley, nee Miculinich. He was the second of three children.

Ron’s parents moved from Chicago, IL to Santa Barbara, CA, in the late 1950’s, where they built the Blue Sands Motel. As a family-run business, Ron did everything from cleaning toilets, changing the linens, and cleaning the pool, which he did from when it opened until he entered the Army.

Ron served as a Specialist (Artillery) E4 in the US Army National Guard (1965-1971).

Ron had a passion for learning. He took great pride in expanding upon and sharing his knowledge with everyone he met. He received an AA in General Studies from Santa Barbara City College and graduated from the University of California, Santa Barbara with a BA in Geology/Earth Science.

He worked in construction, as a Soil Technician, a Building Inspector, Geologist, Oil Well Logger, Hydrogeologist and was a Senior Research Scientist at Battelle from 1980 until retirement. Ron was a licensed Engineering Geologist/Hydrogeologist in Washington, Oregon, and Idaho. He had two (2) patents and published more than a dozen articles in his field. He was currently employed with White Shield/Akana as a hydrogeologist.

Ron was always involved in his community, both personally and professionally, as a Den Leader and Assistant Scoutmaster for the Boy Scouts, a Precinct committee officer for the Democratic Party, and a Benton County Reserve Deputy Sheriff. He was a Member of the American Society for Testing and Materials (co-chairman since 1993), American Geophysical Union, National Ground Water Association Scientists and Engineers. He was a member of the National Ground Water Association and ASTM.

Family and friends’ memories of Ron and what he meant to them:

Pam, Ron’s younger sister, remembers all the fun she had growing up with him and older sister Lani. “We were very fortunate to have supportive parents who wanted us to experience different things. Ron played tennis, skied, and played trumpet in the marching band. He was a good fencer, having been taught by a famous fencer who taught Tony Curtis for a movie. He and Lani were horse jumpers at the Santa Barbara Riding Club. He also played the piano. His Russian teacher hoped he would become a concert pianist; he was that good.”

Tim, Ron’s son, shared his father was “a kind man with a great heart, passion for life, and had a beaming smile. He was a loving father, caring husband, and fun-loving grandfather. He was proud of his Croatian and German heritage, spoke German and some Spanish, and enjoyed cooking his world class sausage stuffing and wontons. Dad was a proud Army veteran, who always flew the United States Flag in front of his house. Over time, he began flying flags from different countries, changing them daily to honor country holidays, special occasions, or when neighbors would request dad to fly a particular flag for them. They always expressed admiration and thanked him for doing this, and dad became known as the Flag Man.” He loved animals, especially his cats Prancer and Lil’Bit. He enjoyed board games, going to movies, watching the Seattle Mariners and the Seattle Seahawks (win or lose), and decorating for Halloween and Christmas. “He could fix anything, even had his many tools organized in toolboxes he took time to label. He was a well-respected geologist/hydrogeologist and had a keen eye; just looking at a building he could tell you if the foundation had been laid correctly.” He was wicked smart, told the funniest and weirdest jokes, and shared all kinds of stories from his amazing life. “He had a sense of humor that could quench the hottest of angry fires. He touched many lives and made the world a better place. God bless Ronald Schalla on his journey home.”

Michelle, Ron’s daughter, shared “Dad came into my life when I was 16. He treated mom like a Queen and cared for and loved us as his own. I clearly remember him asking me when he held Taylor as a newborn if he could call her Rose, mom’s middle name. He had that look of instant love and wonder on his face. He felt this way with all his grandchildren who adored him. He loved us all and supported us all. He loved to spend time with us, teaching us new games, sharing stories of his life, and always laughing. He was the most caring man I have ever known.”

Bob, Ron’s cousin, waxed poetic about growing up and looking up to him as the Big Brother he never had. Ron was 9 years older and had every cool toy a boy could want and did cool stuff with him. Ron would go shooting with his friends and let him tag along. He rebuilt a 1954 Chevy, wore it out and then fixed up an old 1949 Chrysler sedan. “Ron influenced my decision to go into geology. He spent time with me, showing his neat mineral collection and told stories about his trips out to the old mines in the Mohave desert where he collected neat rocks. He taught me about tropical fish, introduced me to coin collecting and let me tag along on his trips telling me that if I mustered up twenty-five cents, I could add an Indian Head penny to my collection. Ron taught me about the stock market too. When Ron joined the National Guard, I would send weekly letters to Fort Sill during his artillery training, and he always wrote back. “It was so fun to hear from him. It made me feel special. When I was a kid, Ron was my hero.” Ron taught me how to play war games and I was given a collection of games when his father passed away. We would spend many evenings fighting the battle of Midway and various Civil War battles on the ping-pong table. We played with tiny Roman soldiers we set up on the floor and rolled marbles at each other’s armies to knock them down. He taught me how to paint plastic ship models. This was all heady stuff for a grade school kid. When I was in Jr. High and wanted a motorcycle, Ron left his little two-wheeled scooter and said I could use it any time I liked. Ron was a great guy. I got to speak with him following his 80th birthday and was looking forward to many more conversations. “Thanks Ron. Whether you knew or not, you meant a lot to me when I was growing up. I wish I had had the chance to tell you. Rest in peace my friend.”

Gregg, Ron’s longtime friend, coworker, and co-patent holder, remembers meeting Ron in the early 1980’s when looking for solutions to the environmental monitoring issues at Hanford. “Ron liked my small company and helped me license a deep well sampling pump technology that he and other Battelle scientists had developed. Ron was one of the leading publishers of geology papers in the US and created a lot of new technology and solutions. We had long discussions about technologies for Hanford’s unique geology and problems, but also for the world at large. We attended a few Mariner games and went to many annual Groundwater shows in Las Vegas with me having a booth and Ron searching for good ideas for the Hanford site. But he always managed to win a few dollars at the slot machines, seeming to have a magic way of finding a machine that would pay off. When I started a company in 2015, Ron was one of the advisors that I went to for recommendation and endorsement of technology of another business I was doing a bit of business with. Ron gave me the confidence to pursue this business. Ron was very good at networking and understanding relationships among environment technology developers and products and no doubt helped many other companies along the way! I will miss him! And the industry will miss him!”

Elaine, Ron’s wife, shared “We celebrated our 30th wedding anniversary on January 1, 2024, and talked about how lucky we were that good friends introduced us, and how life had blessed us with an abundance of laughter and love. We traveled a lot around the country for his work on Portal Well Monitoring Systems, where he managed the construction of the monitors at various border crossings. We took our grandchildren on several trips to Disneyland and Las Vegas. How he loved his grandchildren. I will always remember his never-ending support for me, my two brothers, family, and others. We have a blended family, and he showed no favorites. He was so very proud of all his children. He gave sage advice and loved unconditionally. He was very sociable, loved meeting new people and making new friends. He really didn’t have an angry bone in his body. He was very well respected and admired. There are just not enough superlatives in the world to describe my husband. We were happy and I thought the world of him. I loved his heart, his spirit and just talking to him. 80 years on this earth was just not enough time for me, his children, or his family and friends.”

Ron is survived by his loving wife Elaine Schalla, nee DeHart; sister Pam (Mike) Milligan; his children, Amy, Tim (Deona) Schalla, Marc (Kerry) DeHart, Michelle (Justin) Voeks, and Alan Isaacson; seven grandchildren, Austin James, Taylor (Alex) Isaacson-Molnar, Riley (Cody) Slocombe, Kira Isaacson, Aidan Isaacson, Raina Voeks and Madelynn DeHart; and great-granddaughter Avery James; cousins Robert, Merrill and Nancy; nephews Randy (Lily) and Brian (Leslie) Hatfield.

He was preceded in death by his parents, James and Helen, and his sister Dr. Leilani Hatfield-Brown.

Memorial services will be held Friday, January 26, 2024, at 11:00 am at the LDS church, 724 N. Pittsburgh, Kennewick. Inurnment will follow at Desert Lawn Cemetery in Kennewick at 2:00 pm, where Ron will receive military honors.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made to the Benton Franklin Humane Society or the American Heart Association.