Ronald Mccleary

Ronald J. McCleary, age 56, of Kerkhoven, died Saturday, December 22, at Rice Memorial Hospital in Willmar following a battle with cancer.

Mass of Christian Burial will be 10:30 a.m. Thursday, December 27, at the Church of St. Mary with Fr. Jeffrey Horejsi officiating. Interment will be in Sacred Heart Catholic Cemetery near Raymond. Visitation will be 5-8 p.m. Wednesday with a 7:30 Parish Prayer service at Peterson Brothers Funeral Home in Willmar and will continue one hour prior to Mass at the church.

Ronald John McCleary was born December 20, 1951, in Willmar, the son of Howard and Jeanne (Forcier) McCleary. He grew up in the Willmar, Pennock and Belgrade areas and attended school in Willmar, Belgrade and Kerkhoven, graduating from Kerkhoven High School in 1969. On September 15, 1973, he married Virginia Melin. He attended the Willmar Vo-Tech for drafting and electronics and later returned to school to receive his auto mechanics training. He worked at Control Data in Minneapolis before returning to the Willmar area. On June 27, 1981, he married Marsha (Johnson) Syverson at the Church of St. Mary in Willmar. They lived in the Willmar area and moved to Kerkhoven in 2005. Ron drove truck for the Farm Service Elevator and most recently worked as a forklift mechanic for Forklift Service and Herc-U-Lift.

He is survived by his wife, Marsha; three sons, Ryan (and Rachael) McCleary of Alexandria; Jamie McCleary of Henning and Travis (and Aurora) McCleary of Willmar; a daughter, Tanya (and Reed) Reinbold of Henning; and ten grandchildren. Also surviving are his mother, Jeanne McCleary of Pennock; four brothers, Michael (and Renee) McCleary of Kerkhoven, Roger (and Pamela) McCleary of Kerkhoven, Gerald (and Michele) McCleary of Belgrade and Randall (and Nancy Balderas) of Clara City; two sisters, Connie Basore of New London and Pamela (and Steven) Ruka of Kerkhoven; and other relatives and friends. He was preceded in death by his father, Howard in October 2007 and a brother, James McCleary in 1968.