Obituary
Ronald Earl Heath

Ronald Earl Heath, Sr, 80, of Raleigh, NC, passed away the evening of August 7, 2023, barely two months after his wife of 60 years, Charlotte, passed. A couple of weeks ago his heart began to fail, seemingly broken from grief. He is free now from all the pain he has endured for so long. He answered to lots of names including Ron, Ronnie, Big Ron, Dad and Papa, and he owned a series of gas and service stations on Six Forks, along Hillsborough Street at the corners of Gorman, Daisy and Glenwood, and lastly on St Mary’s Street at Johnson. He knew his customers, knew their stories, and when it came time for them to pay, he would often ask what they could afford or tell them to pay him when they could. If you were lucky enough to meet him, you never forgot him. His personality was big and magnetic, and he was so charismatic you would think he was a movie star. In fact, his final service station was selected as a film site for an independent movie called Bandwagon being made in Raleigh. It didn’t take long before they asked him to play the main character’s boss. He even got his own IMDB page out of the deal. Ron was one of those people who was just good at stuff – not just sports like baseball, racquetball and golf, but also mechanics, poker and the gift of gab. He watched football with his family on Sundays and taught the rules and maybe a little about betting odds too. When the Hurricanes came to NC, he bought Hockey for Dummies and was soon teaching us the game. His pig pickins were legendary and all major Heath milestones were celebrated with one. As he got older, he read constantly, devouring several books a week and could tell you the plot of them all. The thing he excelled at the most in his life was being Papa to his grandchildren. He loved Emma, Anna, Maggie and Henry so much. He held them as babies and sang to them, and as they got older, he spent hours reading to them, watching cartoons and coloring. He colored so many sea creatures and dinosaurs; the walls of the living room were covered with art. Papa was patient and kind and so very proud of them. Ron was born on January 28, 1943, to Appie Clyde Fields Heath and Bill Heath, in Greene County, NC. He joined the Marine Corp in 1960 at the age of 17 and not long after was medically discharged due to a heart murmur. His girlfriend, Charlotte, broke up with him when he joined, but they kept writing to each other anyway. Perhaps even then his heart couldn’t handle being away from her. After he was discharged, he went back to her, they married on November 17, 1962, and were together the rest of their lives. In 1969, they relocated to Raleigh where they raised their four children, all of whom stayed in the area. He is survived by his children, Ron (and Becky) Heath, Jr., Mark (and Amy) Heath, Shelly Heath (and Barry Pierce) and Helen (and Malcolm) Green; his three beautiful granddaughters, Emma, Anna and Maggie; as well as his sisters Penny and Linda, and many nieces and nephews. Ron was predeceased by his wife, Charlotte, his parents Appie Clyde and Bill, stepmother Ledar, his sisters Becky, Beverly and Ruth, and his grandson, Henry Green. His family will receive visitors at the location of his last service station which is now home to My Way Tavern at 522 St Mary’s St, Raleigh, NC 27605, between 4:30 – 6:30 p.m. on Monday, August 14, 2023. Ron’s children will carry their parents’ ashes to the family’s river house in Charlotte, NC, for a celebration of life to be held on September 9, 2023. Ron’s and Charlotte’s ashes will then be interred next to their beloved grandson, Henry, at Oakwood Cemetery in Raleigh. In lieu of flowers, please donate in Ron’s memory to the American Heart Association at heart.org/donate. His family gives thanks to the staff of Litchford Falls Nursing Home, ProMedica Heartland Hospice and City of Oaks Cremation for their support.