Ron Frank Bonventre

Ron Bonventre - July 22, 1956 -July 18, 2022 

Loving husband of his wife Julie for over 35 years, and adoring father of his prides and joy Nicholas (32) and Amanda (27). Beloved brother-in-law, Godfather, uncle, great-uncle, cousin and respected friend to many. 

Our love story began in Queens NY. We caught each other’s eye working as managers at Macys and started dating March of 1985.  Not only was he ‘oh so handsome ‘& stylish dressed in the sharpest suits and ties, but his intelligence was what drew me in to want to get to know Ron. How could such a good-looking guy born in Brooklyn, be so smart too?  His life experiences and Bachelor’s degree from New York University definitely had an influence, and then I saw and felt his heart when I met his parents.  The love and respect for his parents was remarkable. Yet another reason I fell in love. Two years later, Ron & I were married on May 23, 1987 at St. Benedict Joseph Labre Church in Richmond Hill, NY and celebrated a beautiful reception at Terrace on the Park in Flushing Meadow Park Queens, the former site of the World’s Fair in the late 60’s.  Even though our wedding day was perfect, a piece of Ron’s heart was missing on the most important day of his life. Just 8 months prior to our wedding, he lost his mother and best friend, Terry to cancer. It was a loss that Ron never fully overcame, but as an only child pushed through every moment of the day to take care of his dad, Frank, as he promised his mom as she took her last breath holding her hand. As a son he loved & cared for his father unconditionally, putting all else aside, especially when his dad became an amputee due to illness. Ron did it all for his dad with love and respect. An amazing son. 

As a father, nothing was more important than his children and their happiness. Nicky & Amanda lit up his life each and every day. He was there by my side to see them be born, to take their first breaths.  Was involved with our children’s day to day as they grew up...sports, skating, puzzles, games, education, reading, involved as much as he could as he worked hard to earn money so that I could be home for 8 years to raise our kids. We always said they are the greatest gifts God gave us & we never took that for granted.   Ron showed his unconditional love to his two children with kindness, patience and understanding. Guided them with knowledge, exposed them to all he loved, especially his love of music, classic rock of course, science & history, and will continue to live on in them.  Even as adults, our kids & their amazing fiancés enjoyed being with us. Through the many weekends away, dinners together, family fun days we got to know their chosen loves and considered Barbara and Angelo as ‘our kids’ as well with pride.  Ron would always say to me ‘what grown up adults choose to hang out with their old parents? We did something right Jewels (as he liked to call me...) and we can’t be prouder of them ‘...I’d always respond ‘yes, babe, we sure did, and we sure are ‘.  The last conversation Ron and I had on 4/30 was exactly that, “look at our kids babe, they are the best “-There is no doubt that Ron adored and loved his big guy Nick and his Tweety Amanda, as he always will to eternity. 

As son-in-law, he loved & bonded with my parents treated them like they were his own parents always, and was loved like a son, the son my parents never had. So many memories together.

As a husband, our story is filled with the ebbs and flows of life over 35 years. We shared hopes and dreams, we shared our lives, navigated through the bumps & bruising life throws at you ... but always ended up knowing that our love was a bond for eternity.  Ron put up with my brattiness, my nagging and demanding self... and always always loved me, his ‘honey pot’ through it all. Thanks to our kids we recently took great mini vacations to places we would have never gone like Chicago, Washington DC, Philadelphia, Dallas, St. Pete Florida ... and we reunited as a loving couple again. Just knowing that our kids had their lives settled in, successful & happy, gave us the time to have fun exploring life again.  I’d take him to the tallest building of each city to get out of his ‘box ‘ , he’d say but do we HAVE to do this Jewels ??! … the Tilt in Chicago being the scariest one, he didn’t want to, but ultimately gave in to my insistence... after with pride he’d say “that wasn’t that bad! We did it!”  And we would laugh. These are memories along with a million more that I treasure in my heart and my soul forever.  Am so very thankful to God each. 

Ron lives on in all who knew him ... his jokes, sarcasm, view on life, will continue on forever.   He knew how to be comfortable & interact with the best of the rich, famous, & top executives, but yet knew his place as a hard-working simple family man.  All who know him know this is true. 

Our family will never be the same without Ron. Losing him was so unexpected, and leaves a gaping hole in our hearts that will never be filled, a space that has sadness and misses him beyond any words, but we all know that Ron is resting in peace, is flying high with the Angels, is reunited with all who went before him that awaited him at the gates of heaven.  

Heaven is a beautiful place, it must be, otherwise Ron would have come back to us.  

We love you always and forever Ron Bonventre, and always will.  

“Wild horses ... couldn’t drag me away. Wild wild horses ... we’ll ride them one day “

(song lyrics of our song by his lifelong favorite band, The Rolling Stones)