In Memoriam: Rev. Ron Hovick
Ronald Dean Hovick was born on January 24, 1956, in Seattle, Washington. He was the youngest of eight children of Ingrid and Lyla Hovick. He died of cancer on February 20, 2020.
Ron lived in Seattle (Ballard) until he was 12, after which his family moved to Edmonds, Washington. When Ron was in the seventh grade he met Penny Westby at school and church. She soon became his friend, then his girlfriend, and then his beloved wife on May 1, 1977. Their son Ryan was born on November 5, 1978, and Ron, who worked for Fred Meyer, was transferred up to Fairbanks, Alaska in May, 1979 where they were building a new store. Their second son Nicholas was born on February 18, 1981, and in 1986, after seven years in Fairbanks, the family moved back to Edmonds. After two moves (to Edmonds, and then to Silverdale, WA) he made the decision to answer God’s call to become a pastor. We made another move to Redmond, Washington where Penny went to work full time in a dental office, and Ron was part time bank employee, and a student at Bellevue Community College where he got his Associate degree. From there he went to Lutheran Bible Institute for two years, and in the spring of 1990 he received his Bachelors Degree in Biblical Studies. In August, 1990 we moved to St. Paul, MN where he was a student at Luther Northwestern Seminary. After two years of classes, the third year was spent in Coeur d’Alene, ID on internship, and then it was back to St. Paul for his final year. In May of 1994, he received his Master in Divinity degree.
Ron’s first call was as Pastor of Emmanuel Lutheran in Shepherd, MT, where he ministered for seven years. Ryan & Nick both graduated from Shepherd High School and they were off on their own adventure in MN. Ron’s next call was to St. Stephen’s Lutheran in El Dorado Hills, California where he ministered for eight years. From there we went to St. Mark’s Lutheran in Chula Vista, California where he ministered for nine and a half years. His favorite part of being a pastor was to preach and teach. Ron’s goal was to “comfort the afflicted, and afflict the comfortable” and he did just that. He taught from the Bible, doing what Jesus would do. Performing weddings was a favorite part of his years being a pastor, but doing them for family and friends was very special.
Ron & Penny moved to St. Paul, MN in October, 2017, and in April, 2018 decided to make the move to Las Vegas, NV. He was working for God Behind Bars, a company that puts “Jesus in jail” and through bible study, etc. helps prisoners see what Jesus can do in their lives. Ron worked in the thrift store called Castaways as their manager, and loved it. They had some employees who were close to being paroled and Ron liked seeing them get out and a new start. In his spare time, Ron loved traveling, refinishing furniture, and going for rides on his bicycle. He also loved a good garage sale.
He survived by Penny, his wife of 43 years; his son Ryan and his wife Nicole, his son Nick and his wife Tricia, grandchildren Micaela, Trevor, and Katie; sisters Sandra Hansen, Ruth Hovick, Carol Hovick, brothers Jim and his wife Gail, and Ray (Jackie), brother-in-law Luvimin Padre, and many nieces & nephews, and many great-nieces and nephews.
Ron was preceded in death by his parents, his brother Don, his sister Barbara (Hovick) Padre, and his niece Lora Padre.
Ron had a confident sense of who he was, whose he was, and where he would spend eternity. His sense of humor carried him far, and we that are still on earth will remember him forever.
Service
Funeral will be at Reformation Lutheran Church, Saturday, March 7, 2020 at 11 am.
“Eternal rest grant to him, O Lord; and let light perpetual shine upon him. May his soul, and the souls of all the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace.”