Ronald Eich, 65, Banker and Baseball Fan, Dies

This memory of Ronald Eich was written by his wife in a way a true lover of the baseball, as he was, might want to be remembered leaving this world. Patch left it unchanged.

Ronald Burklund Eich, 65, of Lake Forest., leading off and batting for both power and high on-base-percentage, Pancreatic cancer won again, with an inside-the-park home run against Ron Eich, who pitched a perfect game all the way through the bottom of the eighth last week in Lake Forest.

Ron passed away May 13, 2013 due to metastatic pancreatic cancer. Ron knew that beating pancreatic cancer a second time was not a game of sitting on a lead, running plays into the line to kill the clock. He was playing major league baseball, and survival meant approaching the mound with faith and giving the disease its chance at bat in order to shut it out.

Ron’s battle against pancreatic cancer ran nearly two years, and he fought it with his typical, uncomplaining, calm demeanor. Always a gentleman, he left the field with dignity and courage, supported from the stands by the unfailing love of family and friends.

Ron was born in Evanston to Robert and Doris Eich, and was raised in Glenview during the halcyon days of the 50s and 60s. He was imbued with traditional family values, including love of country and love of sport, especially baseball, which served passionately as a generational link within his family, and which he played with fervor at Glenbrook South High, from which he graduated in 1966.

By the late Sixties, Ron went off to DePauw University and pledged Beta Theta Pi, a brotherhood affiliation which he revered his entire life. From college, Ron began a career in the trust and estate industry, distinguishing himself with thirty years of service at The Northern Trust Company, where, with his clients, he fostered good tidings and loyal relationships that lasted well beyond his retirement.

He is survived by his loving wife, Kathryn nee Walker, three children that he raised in Deerfield; Matthew, Melissa and Andrew, all of whom he adored and all of whom were at his bedside both immediately following his cancer surgery in January 2012, and during the seven week final inning of his battle against pancreas cancer.

Ron’s wife, Kathryn, shared his love of alpine skiing, country music, and of course, the Chicago Cubs, of which Ron was an avid memorabilia collector. He insisted that nostalgia is a necessary thing for the soul because it is a way for finding peace in that which we have accomplished. He was a friend who listened without a clock and without anticipation of results.

Ron saw eternity as an extension of his time here on earth, and he rarely wore a watch, preferring instead to focus on “now.” Ron’s “way” taught his friends and family that the success to love is in the loving, not the result of loving, and that baseball is the perfect life metaphor. Play the game one pitch at a time; win with humility, lose with dignity, and don’t be afraid to pepper-in a little music when its time to reclaim the corners of life’s strike zone. Chin music, that is; the high and tight fast ball with enough late movement to give life impact, pop and character. That… is how this cowboy rides away.

Ron is also survived by his brother, Steven (Nancy Harper) Eich, sister, Judith (Mark) Standefer, his first wife and mother of his children, Francoise Bryan, his granddaughter, Bella Marie Hazen, Bella’s father, Chris Hazen, Kathy’s parents, Arthur (Elena) Walker and Linda Todd Gepte, Kathy’s four siblings and their spouses, and seventeen nieces and nephews.

In celebration of Ron’s life, there will be a memorial service at 3 p.m. June 15at the Gorton Community Center with fellowship and the exchange of Ron Eich memories immediately following the service

For more information, please contact Wenban Funeral Home (847-234-0022 or www.wenbanfh.com).

In lieu of flowers, the family suggests donations to: The Ronald Burklund Eich Pancreatic Cancer Research Fund, Medical College of Wisconsin, 8701 Watertown Plank Road, Milwaukee, WI 53226, www.mcw.edu/giving.