Ronald Waddle was born November 3, 1947 in the beautiful town of Woodlake, CA to parents, Archie and Dorothy Waddle.   

   Ron had two brothers, Gary and Daryl, and a sister, Linda.  Ron attended College of the Sequoias in the big city of Visalia after graduating from Woodlake High School.  Ron and his family relocated to Manteca, CA in 1967 and he remained a resident of Manteca until the day of his passing, February 22, 2024.  

   It was in Manteca that Ron met his wife of 54 years, Melanie Yorke.  Melanie was the love of his life catalyst of his 34 year career.  In February 1970, she showed him an ad in the Manteca Bulletin and encouraged him to “try it out”.  Ron had a successful career climbing the ranks of the Manteca Fire Department.  He began as an engineer and retired in 2004 as a Division Fire Chief, Fire Prevention.  He wasn't ready to give up his fire fighting ways and worked as a retired annuitant in both Manteca and Tracy Fire Department doing Fire Prevention for 2 more years.  The man loved fire codes and could recite them as if they were his address.  Not only was Ron a lifelong firefighter, he was also a father of Steve Waddle and Sawndella Freeman.  Ron really hit his stride in life as a grandfather, which began in 1995.  He has seven grandchilden that he is wildly proud of and whom he spent every moment, dollar and ounce of love and energy on; Skyler, Brooke, Kaden, William, Jack, Christian and Ava.  He spent the majority of his time at the ranch on his beloved lawnmower and with his sweetheart, Melanie.    A memorial service will be held to honor Ron on Friday, March 15th at 11:00 a.m. at Chez Shari.  

Manteca (Calif.) Bulletin

Saturday, March 12, 2024