Staff Writer
SPRINGFIELD— Retired U.S. Lt. Col. Ronald H. Lache died Monday of lung cancer at his home in Springfield. He was 68.
He had been living on his own with the help of his son, who resides in Springfield, since his wife, the late Delores Carney, died March 7 of this year.
Before moving to Springfield five years ago, Lache was an active and influential part of the community in Dayton, Ohio. As a member of the Newman Center and the Rock Bridge Lions Club, he directed several successful community initiatives. One of those initiatives, a successful fundraiser to help revamp one of the city’s oldest parks, raised more than $100,000.
“He was a great man,” said fellow club member John Doughty. “He was always trying to figure out new ways to help the community. Every meeting, he would propose a new program. They almost always were wildly successful, though it wouldn’t have mattered if they weren’t, because he never gave up.”
Lache continued his community service after moving to Springfield, even after his wife passed away.
When Lache was 18 years old and fresh out of high school, he joined the U.S. Air Force. He never saw combat but his fellow pilots and those who served under him said they would have trusted him with their lives.
As a fellow officer, Lt. Col. Don Brink, recalled, “I remember one day after training when I was pretty down and feeling like I wasn’t going to make it. Ron came up to me, looked me in the eye, and said, ‘Brink, you will get this. You wouldn’t have made it as far as you have if you couldn’t do it.’ I know that doesn’t sound particularly inspiring, but there was always something about Ron. He just had this light in his eyes when he looked at you. You just knew he believed in you and would do anything he could for you.”
Lache loved using the stories of his time in the Air Force to help raise awareness of local issues. At a city council meeting during a discussion of orphan awareness, he told them about a young boy he met while walking through Seoul, South Korea. Lache was stationed there after the armistice was signed in July 1953. The boy, 10-year-old Sun Kyeong Kim, had just lost his whole family in the war.
Lache found a family who would take the boy in near where he was stationed. “He was like an uncle to me,” said Kim. “He helped me attend a college here in America. I always knew his home was open to me. I could never repay him for how he helped me. He wouldn’t have let me even if I could. That’s just who he was.”
After retiring from the Air Force, Lache married Delores Carney and together they had one son and three daughters. He raised his children with community spirit in mind. All became leaders at their colleges and in their communities.
“I wouldn’t be where I am today nor would I be doing what I’m doing today if it wasn’t for my father,” said daughter Cynthia Lache of San Mateo, Calif. She and Kim are co-founders of a global communications firm focused on conflict resolution between Israel and Pakistan.
A second daughter, Barbara Ann Peck, said, “Daddy would have loved to see what Cynthia and Sun are doing now. Despite being a military officer, he always believed that people could solve conflicts in a peaceful way. He would have been so proud to see where we are now.” Peck founded and runs a shelter program in Dayton, Ohio, that has helped reduce the homelessness rate in Dayton by 50%.
Lache is survived by his mother, Thelma Lache, of Springfield; his son, Ronald Lache, also of Springfield; three daughters, Barbara Ann Peck of Dayton, Ohio; Patrice Louis Wylie of Indianapolis, Ind.; and Cynthia Lache of San Mateo, Calif.; and one granddaughter, Jennifer C. Peck of Springfield.
Services will be held in Springfield. Visitation will be held Wednesday, 7 p.m., at Parker Funeral Services, 606 Washington Ave. A graveside service will be held Friday, 2 p.m., at Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery.
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