Ronald Schroeder

Ronald Schroeder, loving husband of Esther, died peacefully Dec. 22, 2013, after a long battle with cancer. He was 79.

Schroeder was born Oct. 4, 1934, near Milwaukee, Wis. to Albert and Adeline Schroeder, and was the brother of Gloria and Delayne. He served in the U.S. Navy on the USS Wasp. After his tour of duty, he attended the University of Arizona and graduated from San Jose State with a degree in physics. He worked at Lawrence Livermore Laboratory where he met his wife, then at Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory, and in 1980 he founded his own company, the Berkeley Group, which dealt mainly with geothermal energy.

Although he enjoyed his work, he had many other interests as well. He did a lot of backpacking and mountain climbing. He climbed the face of Half Dome as well as several 14,000 ft. mountains in Colorado and Mt. Assiniboine in Canada. He played golf when he could find the time. Every winter, he spent at least a week or two skiing. In early 2013, he was skiing at Beaver Creek in Colorado and at Squaw Valley. He was very fond of classical music and has been going to the San Francisco Opera regularly since the early 1970s.

Schroeder continued to challenge himself after retirement, exploring his own ideas for writing and software. Although no longer rock climbing, he did a lot of landscaping, building rock walls on his hillside lot. He also took up tennis. He worked hard to improve his game and thoroughly enjoyed it. He also did a lot of travel, about three or four trips a year, largely to Europe, Asia and within the United States.

He was the devoted father of John Randolph (predeceased, wife, Kim) and Elizabeth (husband, Brent), and grandfather of Emma and Esther Joy. He will be greatly missed by his family, colleagues, tennis players and golfers.

A memorial will be held at a future date.