Ronald West Marley

Ronald West Marley, 81, of Fleming Island, Fl. passed on Wednesday, June 26, 2019 to be with his Lord and Savior. Born to William A. Marley and Elma Paul Marley on October 27, 1937 in Johnstown, Pa., he was baptized in the Lutheran faith. He married Mary Alice Lawson, his high school sweetheart, in 1961. Preceded in death by his parents and brother, Phillip Marley, he is survived by his wife, daughters Mary Theresa Watts and Christine Marley-Frederick, sons-in-law Wayne Watts and Bryan Frederick, grandsons Alexander, Samuel, Parker, Lucas, and granddaughter-in-law Jessica, brothers William and David and sisters-in-law Juanita and Susan and numerous nieces, nephews, and cousins. A devoted husband and father, he deeply and without reserve loved his family and friends. His impact was positive and great during his time on earth. He is dearly loved by the abundance of people he touched.

‘The Colonel’ graduated from Virginia Military Institute in 1959, serving in the Army for 29 years, retiring in 1983 at the rank of Colonel. He completed Airborne and Ranger school and spent six years in Southeast Asia. He served most of his career in the Infantry and Intelligence. He worked in the Pentagon, then attended the Command and Staff College at Ft. Leavenworth, Ks, followed by a Master’s in Public Administration from the University of Missouri-Kansas City. He served in command and executive officer positions and his final position was Commandant of the Personnel Management School.

He was wounded twice in Vietnam. He loved his country and sacrificed for it, receiving the Distinguished Service Medal, Bronze Star Medal (6OLC) w/V Dev, Purple Heart (1OLC), Meritorious Service Medal (1OLC), Air Medal (8OLC) w/V Dev, Army Commendation Medal (2OLC) w/V Dev and many others for his efforts. He earned the Expert and Combat Infantryman Badges and Ranger tab as well as others. He was a hero; he was our hero.

After the military, he worked in human resources, facilities and information technology for Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Florida in Jacksonville. His time in various roles, including Vice President of Facilities, was spent building relationships. He was respected for his work and made a lot of good friends in his 17 years.

He spent many years volunteering in the Jacksonville area. He served faithfully at the Clothes Closet (15 years, Friday crew); I. M. Sulzbacher (over 20 years, most recently, 1^st Saturday crew); He was on the Boards of the YMCA and BASCA. He spearheaded the St. Patrick’s Day breakfast for Daystar (10 years). His genuine pleasure in serving others was contagious.

He loved fishing, traveling, reading, spending time on his tree farm and being with his friends and family. He never met a stranger and lit up a room with his friendly smile. He was entertaining, gregarious and a great storyteller. He lived a full, rewarding life and will be missed by many people.

For the past 30 years, he was an active member at Jax NAS chapel. He lived a servant life. The parting is painful, but we will meet again.

A memorial service will be held August 12, 2019 at 11:00 am in the Broadus-Raines Chapel, 501 Spring Street, Green Cove Springs, Fl. 32043. A graveside service will follow at 1:30 p.m. at Jacksonville National Cemetery, 4083 Lannie Road, Jacksonville, Fl.