A Friend Passes - Ronald D. Markovits

Yesterday, our friend, Linda Markovits informed us that her husband, Ron, had died on Tuesday, April 7.  I had spoken very briefly with Ron the previous Saturday, learned that he was in the hospital and not feeling well.  He promised to call later.  He sounded terrible.  He never returned my call.

Here is a link to Ron's obituary.

http://www.yourlifemoments.ca/sitepages/obituary.asp?oid=793174

I did not expect him to die so quickly but then I’m not entirely surprised.  I had spoken to Ron about a year ago and learned that he had been diagnosed with stage 4 colon cancer.  He said the doctor had given him a prognosis of 6 months but had said that with aggressive chemotherapy that his life might be extended to 6 years or more.   Ron embraced the chemo protocol and moved forward.

Ron and I go back many years and share some very important statistics.  We were both born in 1943, both worked for the Warranty Group, both retired after 38 years, both retired on the same day (March 31, 2010) and shared a retirement party (one of the very few ever thrown by our company).  Ron also became a boater for a brief period but his first love, after Linda of course, was golf.

Although we both worked for the same company at the end of our careers we came together from very different paths. Ron joined Combined Insurance in 1972.  I joined Ryan Insurance Group in 1972.  Our paths crossed soon after Combined acquired Ryan in an upstream merger where Pat Ryan, the CEO of the acquired company, became the CEO of the merged entity.  That Ryan became the CEO is an important fact as it caused our paths to cross about a year later.

Pat Ryan tasked me with two major training program development projects at Combined over a three year period.   And that’s how I met Ron.  He was in charge of compliance and assigned another attorney, Joe Fagan, to review my training programs.   The culture of Ryan, a very Theory Y company was different than that of Theory X Combined.  Ryan wanted to bring a Theory Y approach (Guided Discovery) to Combined’s training with the goal of increasing their training effectiveness.  Needless to say there was a clash of cultures but we worked it out and I came to greatly respect both Ron and Joe.

Fast forward a bunch of years and Ron moves into the extended warranty business and eventually becomes the Chief Legal Officer for the Warranty Group.  Starting around 2000 I became Vice President of Training and Quality Assurance for our administrative subsidiary and held that position until 2007 when I was promoted to Senior Vice President World Wide Performance Improvement for the corporation as a whole.  From 2000 to our retirement Ron and I worked very closely on training, quality assurance, complaint resolution and legal issues. 

Ron became my counselor on legal matters along with confidant and adviser, often behind the scenes.  Ron helped me tackle several ethical issues and with his help I was able to change what I will politely describe as consumer unfriendly practices.  Together we won some big battles and over time became good friends.

Lester, Diana, Linda and Ron 2010 at the Miami Boat Show (55 Fleming in the background)

In March of 2010, Ron helped me with my attempt to purchase the 2010 63 Outer Reef Cockpit Motor Yacht that was in Seattle.  He reviewed the documents and helped me with the negotiation strategy.  I got cold feet and the last minute but that’s another story.  Ron was an avid follower of this blog and often talked with me about our adventures.

We met for lunch at Savory Street in late December while Diana and I were in Sarasota waiting for delivery of the new 63.  Ron looked good, had gained back most of his weight and was hopeful about the future.  We tried to meet once more before I left for Fort Lauderdale but our schedules didn't coincide.

Ron’s passing at 71 is particularly poignant for me as we shared so much in common.  My dad, Isadore Henry (Jack) Shapiro, also died at 71 from a heart attack while playing tennis.  As I write this remembrance, Diana, Kodi and I are 40 miles off the coast of North Carolina heading north to Beaufort full of life and expectation of many more wonderful years.

Truly, 71 is too young.  I will miss my friend.

Written by Les