Letter to the Editor
September 3, 2020
On July 18, 2020, our community, our county, and America lost a silent hero. His name was Ronnie Tollison.
In these times of COVID-19, he had a very small military funeral at the national cemetery in Springfield. Attendance was limited to the funeral home staff, his immediate family and the military color guard. In these COVID times, I am sure similar situations take place daily across our country.
There was an obituary about Ronnie, but it was just a snapshot of Ronnie’s life. I feel more needs to be known about this man - thus, the following.
I had known Ronnie for about the last 15 years. We became close friends and I came to be thankful for his huge heart.
Ronnie and his family were already here when I moved to Eagle Rock, but it took about five years for our paths to cross. In about 2005 or 2006, I met Ronnie. He was one of those guys who never meets a stranger, who knew everybody and had many friends. He immediately became my friend.
During that first meeting, he told us he was a volunteer on the Eagle Rock Fire Department and recommended that I become one, too. Within 30 days, we were on the fire department together.
Initially, Ronnie was unaware of my vision loss, as I was unaware of his hearing loss. When he found out about my vision loss, he stuck to me like glue. I remember him saying, “If you need anything or need to go anywhere, call me.”
I learned Ronnie told everybody, “If you need anything, call me” - and many did. I realized he truly was everyone’s friend.
He pulled many a car out of ditches and loaded cars on his car-hauler to take them to repair shops.
As our friendship grew, I learned more about him. He was born in California, worked for his dad in the trucking business and owned his own 18-wheeler. Later, he gave that up and moved to Clever, Missouri, and then to Eagle Rock.
I learned Ronnie had respiratory issues. I inquired how he got them and he reluctantly told me (because he didn’t like to talk about it). Ronnie joined the United States Marine Corps during the middle of the Vietnam War.
I remember asking him, “Why did you do that?”
His simple reply was, “I wanted to help and I thought I could make a difference.”
For this, he came in contact with Agent Orange and it affected him adversely the rest of his life. I know in my heart he did make a difference. He didn’t like to talk about his experiences, but I was intrigued with his stories of his unit chopping their way through jungles with bullets flying over their heads and sleeping in rice paddies.
Prior to joining the Marines, he met and married Sharon. I’m not exactly clear on this, but I believe they had three children: two sons and a daughter. Ronnie and Sharon also adopted their two grandchildren, James and Laura, who have lived with them.
Laura recently graduated from College of the Ozarks.
Their son, Danny, lived at home and was also on the Eagle Rock Fire Department with us.
My former wife and I got involved with the Eagle Rock Community Center. We also got Ronnie to join. As time progressed, I was put in charge of the center. Problem was, it was ten miles from my house. Guess who came to my rescue! You’re right. Ronnie.
Ronnie was on our board of directors for a while; he was always there when we needed him. We also got Danny, James and Laura to assist us. What a family!
Back to the fire department... You probably wonder how Ronnie, with his hearing loss and respiratory issues, and me, with my vision loss, could function. We had our limits and recognized them. We often did jobs no one else wanted to do, like washing dishes at the community breakfasts. But we also worked many, many traffic accidents, med calls and fires.
Ronnie and I were a team on car accidents, with him working the stop/yield sign and me on the radio. We knew we could depend on each other.
I could go on and on about what an inspiration he was to me. He was never looking for a pat on the back or an attaboy, though! He always wanted to be a part of whatever was going on to help people.
In the last five years, Ronnie’s health deteriorated to the point where he couldn’t help much, but his heart wanted to be there.
Ronnie served his country and his community and shared his friendship with all. I already miss my silent hero. Our community will miss him, too. They just don’t know it yet, nor how much I love ya, man!
John Stilwell
Eagle Rock
In these times of COVID-19, he had a very small military funeral at the national cemetery in Springfield. Attendance was limited to the funeral home staff, his immediate family and the military color guard. In these COVID times, I am sure similar situations take place daily across our country.
There was an obituary about Ronnie, but it was just a snapshot of Ronnie’s life. I feel more needs to be known about this man - thus, the following.
I had known Ronnie for about the last 15 years. We became close friends and I came to be thankful for his huge heart.
Ronnie and his family were already here when I moved to Eagle Rock, but it took about five years for our paths to cross. In about 2005 or 2006, I met Ronnie. He was one of those guys who never meets a stranger, who knew everybody and had many friends. He immediately became my friend.
During that first meeting, he told us he was a volunteer on the Eagle Rock Fire Department and recommended that I become one, too. Within 30 days, we were on the fire department together.
Initially, Ronnie was unaware of my vision loss, as I was unaware of his hearing loss. When he found out about my vision loss, he stuck to me like glue. I remember him saying, “If you need anything or need to go anywhere, call me.”
I learned Ronnie told everybody, “If you need anything, call me” - and many did. I realized he truly was everyone’s friend.
He pulled many a car out of ditches and loaded cars on his car-hauler to take them to repair shops.
As our friendship grew, I learned more about him. He was born in California, worked for his dad in the trucking business and owned his own 18-wheeler. Later, he gave that up and moved to Clever, Missouri, and then to Eagle Rock.
I learned Ronnie had respiratory issues. I inquired how he got them and he reluctantly told me (because he didn’t like to talk about it). Ronnie joined the United States Marine Corps during the middle of the Vietnam War.
I remember asking him, “Why did you do that?”
His simple reply was, “I wanted to help and I thought I could make a difference.”
For this, he came in contact with Agent Orange and it affected him adversely the rest of his life. I know in my heart he did make a difference. He didn’t like to talk about his experiences, but I was intrigued with his stories of his unit chopping their way through jungles with bullets flying over their heads and sleeping in rice paddies.
Prior to joining the Marines, he met and married Sharon. I’m not exactly clear on this, but I believe they had three children: two sons and a daughter. Ronnie and Sharon also adopted their two grandchildren, James and Laura, who have lived with them.
Laura recently graduated from College of the Ozarks.
Their son, Danny, lived at home and was also on the Eagle Rock Fire Department with us.
My former wife and I got involved with the Eagle Rock Community Center. We also got Ronnie to join. As time progressed, I was put in charge of the center. Problem was, it was ten miles from my house. Guess who came to my rescue! You’re right. Ronnie.
Ronnie was on our board of directors for a while; he was always there when we needed him. We also got Danny, James and Laura to assist us. What a family!
Back to the fire department... You probably wonder how Ronnie, with his hearing loss and respiratory issues, and me, with my vision loss, could function. We had our limits and recognized them. We often did jobs no one else wanted to do, like washing dishes at the community breakfasts. But we also worked many, many traffic accidents, med calls and fires.
Ronnie and I were a team on car accidents, with him working the stop/yield sign and me on the radio. We knew we could depend on each other.
I could go on and on about what an inspiration he was to me. He was never looking for a pat on the back or an attaboy, though! He always wanted to be a part of whatever was going on to help people.
In the last five years, Ronnie’s health deteriorated to the point where he couldn’t help much, but his heart wanted to be there.
Ronnie served his country and his community and shared his friendship with all. I already miss my silent hero. Our community will miss him, too. They just don’t know it yet, nor how much I love ya, man!
John Stilwell
Eagle Rock