RON SMITH STORIES

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This site is comprised of memories and stories about Ron. He passed away on December 13, 2005 from pancreatic cancer. This is a tribute to him and his memory and we hope that you will want to contribute, as well. It is infinitely expandable, so please send an email with your own story if you'd like to submit one. Whether you knew him as Ron or Doc; as a friend, classmate, patient, family member, or just an acquaintance, please feel free to share any fond memories with us.
 
Many of you have asked us where we would prefer donations be made in Ron's memory. We were so very impressed with the care Ron received at Johns Hopkins that we decided to request donations be made to the Kimmel Cancer Center there. Alternatively, you may make a donation to a charity of your choice. We thank you all again so much for the support you have been offering.

Sincerely,
Karyn (Ron's wife), Steve, Michelle, Samantha and Emma (Ron's son, daughter-in-love, and granddaughters), and Stacey, Aleck, and Jelly Bean (Ron's daughter, son-in-law, and grandchild on the way).

You can click here to view his obituary, which ran in the Binghamton (NY) Press & Sun Bulletin on December 15, 2005.

 
 

Arthur and Lauren Kargen's Ron Stories
Ron sent me a notification that he would not be attending the OOners reunion in 1983. Well Ron knew that he would not miss this EVER! But he decided that since this was going to be a poker tournament that he would provide us with the first Bluff of the tournament!! That was 22 years ago and it still sticks in my memory as part of the Ron Smith legacy of amusing and delighting everyone he comes in contact with.

Another Ron story. This one is from Ron Parkinson. His fondest memory was while playing poker in my basement when Sal Amato used to give us lottery tickets when a pot was won. We would pay for them from part of the winnings. Ron Smith won a hand and wanted to give Ron P. one of the tickets to thank him for giving him a tip on how to play a hand. There were 5 tickets for $5.00 and Ron Parkinson asked that he get 25% of whatever Ron won instead. And about 1 week later Ron Smith called him to tell him that one of the tickets hit and paid $500.00 and Ron P was entitled to 25% or $125.00 Just another sign of Ron's integrity and generosity as far as his friends are concerned.

Another Ron story. We were at the Sands hotel in Atlantic City some 25 years ago. Sal Amato, Ron Parkinson, Toby Klyn, Ron Smith and me. Sal and Ron P. decided they could eat a lot of seafood at their extravaganza. This was an all you can eat dinner. They figured they could eat more than Ron Smith and Arthur. So they made us a bet that they would be able to out eat us. Ron took the challenge on our behalf, immediately. Before we started the eating ORGY, Ron had decided to order a milkshake for himself to get him in the mood. After downing the milkshake, he leaned over to me and said, "Arthur, you can sit this one out. I will take them both on myself." He did just that and they cried uncle after about 45 minutes. So I never needed to come to his rescue. Ron P. and Sal must have been nuts to make this bet!!!!

Another Ron story. Ron and I were staying at Ceasar's Palace in Las Vegas many years ago with the usual crew: Toby, Walter, Bruce, Mark and about 4 or 5 others. It was early one morning as Ron and I were walking through the pit area when we stopped to look at a blackjack game that was being roped off by 3 security people. As we walked by I looked at the chips that were being wagered on each hand and I said to Ron, "Look at the chips that man is using. Those are $2500.00 chips." Ron said, "Look again." It turned out he was betting with $25,000.00 chips and not just 1 but 3-5 each bet and at least 2 hands each time. The man we were watching turned out to be the biggest gambler ever in Las Vegas history. It was Kerry Packer, the Australian billionaire. We read all about him in the paper a couple of months later. We were both extremely impressed!!! Ron sent me an article about him not too much later from the Sunday Times. It told all about this high limit player and some of the things he did.


Lauren remembers the beautiful huge stuffed animals that Ron would bring to Aimee and Tammy... or send on a whim. Ron and Karyn got married and...POOF! No more gifts for Aimee and Tammy. She always wondered if she made a mistake introducing them. Well, maybe at the time she was miffed, but Ron's last words to her as she left the hospital last week was, "Thanks for giving me everything!" Guess a mitzvah was accomplished. It is better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all!  We all loved Ron dearly...his dry humor will be with us always!  When leaving as a loser from Arthur's poker game one night Ron's parting words were "It's not Good Night...It's Goodbye!"

Another Ron story. Ron Smith was a race horse owner back in the late 70s, I believe. My favorite horse story was a horse named Relholm Warren owned by Dr. Ronald Smith and driven by Bruce Tubin. I was at Hamburg Raceway with Ron when Relhom Warren was running. Nobody gave the horse a chance to win and it went off at 80 to 1 odds. the hose never got a call until the stretch when the announcer yelled out, "Here comes Relholm Warren on the outside"!!!!! He won the race and the only thing Ron wanted to do was to get his picture taken. I am not sure if he even bet it. I did, however, and it paid $164.80 to win and $28.00 to place if my memory is correct. I never saw Ron run that fast in my life!! He had to get to the winners circle. I believe he still has the picture. (This picture was found in Ron's scrapbook. That's him on the bottom on the far left, Arthur standing next to him, and Bruce Tubin was the jockey.)

 

 

Rob Resnick's Ron Stories
There are many Ron stories, but one that is personal to me and humorous happened in 1980.
 
Ron was working at Sears Optical and I was working at Pearle Vision Center in Oakdale Mall in Binghamton, NY. One night, after work, I got a frantic call from Ron. "Raz, the Hunt brothers are trying to corner the market on silver and the price is going up like a rocket. We need to get out and buy all the sterling we can get our hands on now!" Since I never could say "No" to Ron's schemes, I grabbed my credit card and met him at the Mall where we were determined to buy up every piece of  silver available.  
 
Little did we know how well informed jewelers are. Every piece of silver in that Mall was pulled off the shelves! You couldn't buy a spoon that night! Sounding like Maxwell Smart after a bad show, he said, "We're too late! They were wise to our plan." I said, "Hey, you win some, you lose some. I guess we'll just have to settle for what we have." It was then he coined the phrase that has stayed with me for 25 years. "Raz," he said. "Too much ain't enough!"
 
Just before we moved away from Binghamton, Ron came over one Sunday afternoon with a shovel and a bucket. "What now?" I asked. "We're all going down to the stream behind your house to get some worms"  he said. Now I knew he wasn't about to go fishing, so what did he want the worms for? Turns out they were for his special "tomato plants" that he kept on the porch of his apartment. He needed them to aerate the plants. Those were some good tomatoes! :-)
 
Of course, we are also proud to be recipients of a Tan-Gerbil, the ultimate symbol of the circle of friends touched by this fine gentlemen. I would use his own words to describe the way I feel about being his friend. "Too much ain't enough!"
 

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