Ronald S. Quick Obituary

Ronald S. Quick attended Portage Central High School in Portage, MI. View the obituary, post a memory, or share a photo about Ronald S. Quick.

Graduation Year	Faculty
Date of Passing	Oct 08, 2002
About	From Kalamazoo Gazette: Students learned alot more than Spanish from Portage Central High School teacher Ronald S. Quick. They learned about caring and compassion. "Kids took Spanish because they wanted to be in his classroom." said Deb Ross who student-taught under Quick in 1975 and continued teaching with him at Portage Central until he retired in 1997. "He was a fantastic teacher, he's a legend." she said. "He was the absolute best." Quick's rapport with students went beyond those who were in his classes, Ross said. "He was like the Pied Piper, kids wanted to be with him, and even kids who didn't take Spanish came in to his room to talk with him." "Often when kids needed an adult to talk to, they sought Ron out. He was interested in what they had to say...and he helped kids, he gave them advice." After he retired, Quick moved to his home state of Missouri, but he returned frequently to visit with friends and former coworkers at Portage Central, said Gina Beatty, a secretary at the school and Quick's former neighbor. So all who knew him and had worked with him were shocked when they learned of his sudden death last month. Quick, 60, of Raytown, MO was helping a friend cut wood Oct.8 when he called his wife to tell her something had stung him and that he wasn't feeling well. By the time she arrived to take him home, he was dead, Beatty said. Family members told Beatty the cause of Quick's death has not been determined. Quick, a graduate of Central Missouri State University came to Portage in 1967 to teach at Portage Northern High School and remained on the faculty there until 1973 when he switched to Portage Central. "When I student-taught with him there were five sections of Spanish, and by the time Ron retired there were 20 sections of Spanish." Ross said. "It had alot to do with Ron. When you are able to build a program and retain that high a number of students, that says something about the man who is teaching the classes." Portage Central students who wom Excellence in Education awards frequently chose Quick as one of their most influential educators, Beatty said. Ross said Quick had a black belt in karate and would often spar with students in the gym after school. Not one of them was a match for him, but they wore it as a badge of honor just to say they came up against him. Quick was a "gentleman farmer" in Schoolcraft, where he lived while he taught here, Ross said. She said he always shared his extra produce with the Kalamazoo Gospel Mission. Born Nov. 15, 141 in Independence, MO, Quick began his career teaching English as a foreign language in Cali, Colombia in 1961-1962. He then taught French and Spanish at junior high schools in Missouri and Kansas before coming to Portage. He was an elder in the Mormon church and attended the Church of Jesus Christ Washington Restoration Branch in Excelsior Springs, MO. Survivors, all in Missouri, include his wife of 33 years, Beverly, son and daughter-in-law Andrew and Christy Quick; daughter and son-in-law , Lisa and Jason Howard; two grandchildren; his father; and a brother and sister. Memorial services were held October 13 in Independence.