Ron Ego, the gentleman, mischief maker and anchor to many, passed away peacefully, with family by his side, in the early morning of Friday April 7th, 2023 at Collingwood General & Marine Hospital.
Ron will be remembered for his humour, twinkling eyes, wisdom and generosity for his family, friends, community and every stranger in a line who he could chat with. Wherever he went he was sure to leave a smile on the face of someone he met even if it was their first meeting.
Ronald Leonard Roy Ego, an active and passionate local of Wasaga Beach was born in Mount Dennis June 11, 1943. He was the youngest of five and was raised by his quietly stoic mom Rose Brown (of England) as his dad Herbert Ego (from Orillia) passed when he was just 5. His closest brother Vic and his other siblings, Bill, Ray and Doreen will no doubt have greeted him with open arms on the other side of the rainbow. Ron’s in-laws are also there with a hug and a bit of cheek for sure from Irene, Jack, Mickey and Lloyd. He will be sought out by some of his NHL official friends, for tale telling and reminiscing, most notably Bob Sloan whose birthday was the same as Ron’s passing.
He found his own path through childhood life in Mount Dennis with sport and friendships (not school) with a tight knit group (Gerry, Murray, John) and fair bit of mischief and mayhem.
One night out skating, Ron was smitten with a little sprite of a 15-year-old girl named Faye, also the fifth baby in her family. Their life became one when they married 60 years ago this Fall (September 7) and they complemented each other to achieve his dream of a career in the NHL. Ron’s career as an NHL official allowed him the opportunity to travel across North America and see some of hockey's most memorable moments including a few Stanley Cup play-offs.
Ron and Faye raised three children in Brampton who have now grown and had children of their own. Ron aka Dad, Gramps, Papa will forever be remembered by Michelle (Ego) & Richard Arnold, Michael Ego & Kathleen Chrysdale, Collette (Ego) & David Hart and grandchildren: Samuel, Georgie, Meghan, Annabel and Sophi. There is now slightly less competition for Faye’s butter tarts, but they are left wondering who is going to chop the vegetables for family celebrations.
Ron now leaves nephew Ray, who was more like a brother to him due to their close ages, as the patriarch for this side of the Ego family. His many nieces and nephews have so many fond memories that will regale you for days.
In his many careers, Ron was a hard worker from a young age determined to succeed or at least to help someone else along the way. However, many a boss can attest to his enthusiasm often getting in the way of proper execution; with a spillover of a full load of Pepsi bottles while taking a corner on opening weekend at the Ex, or misspelling the name of his favourite beer Labatt’s on an entire engraving order when he owned Ego Trophies. We believe he primarily napped, a skill he truly could do anywhere, while employed by Toronto Hydro. The catching up on sleep back then was probably a true requirement after driving all over Ontario to officiate in every hockey rink built in Ontario. He was chief Shipper and Receiver and Master Salesman for Faye’s business, Collette’s Gift Baskets, on the days he was home from his NHL Supervisor duties.
Ron loved sport, or to be more specific, social sport and was often found sharing a curling lane or round of golf with Faye and friends. Partial to a punt on the ponies, his children will always hear the racing bugle and think of him. Trips and travel stories are aplenty, starting with driving his brothers’ cars to Skelton Lake (potentially as an underage driver), reading the newspaper to Edie Shack on flights with the NHL, as a teenager driving the jockeys’ Cadillac to Florida, golf adventures with so many of the guys (John, John, Dave), and oh the places Faye took him to; Turks and Caicos, Bahamas, Hawaii, Newfoundland, but it’s the family vacations to Allenwood beach that grounded the family for many years. However, daughter Michelle took him the furthest and truly out of his comfort zone into the Canadian high Arctic where they called him “Half Beast” for his size to chaperone her high school trip and to her new home in the Outback of Australia.
If you needed something done in the community as a fundraiser, you often found Ron at the helm of it. He was never one to sit on the sidelines, he was fast to action and recruited the best people to help him achieve his goals. Watch out though because you might have found yourself getting pulled into his tornado force for success, such as swimming with the Rubber Duckies in the Credit River while he was president of the Brampton Kiwanis Club. Golf was his play space, but also where he knew he could get a lot of work done. He leveraged his relationships fueled by passion to initiate the fundraising at the Brampton Golf Club for the first Women’s and Childrens shelter in Brampton. His most recent victory for his community was the creative solution to get a Walk-in Medical Clinic in Wasaga Beach during his term of Councillor.
The Family would like to extend gratitude and a hug to Ron's ICU nurse, Kyle and all staff we encountered at Collingwood Marine Hospital especially the Emergency room trauma team. He was treated quickly and we were all supported with the utmost care, compassion and dignity. Hats off to the paramedic and Firefighter teams of Wasaga Beach who attended to Ron at his home.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to:
- The Salvation Army, Honeychurch Family Life Resource Centre
- The Collingwood General & Marine Hospital in memory of Ron Ego.
Funeral service will be held at Wasaga Stars Arena, Community Room, 425 River Road West, Wasaga Beach on Thursday, April 20th at 1:00pm.
A social gathering will follow the service along with an opportunity to lace up and skate on the ice that Ron once skated.
The ice will be open to anyone in the community from 3:00-4:00 for the Ron Ego Memorial Skate.
Come dressed in the colours of our favourite referee’s uniform (Black & White), or your favourite hockey jersey.
Condolences for the family may be offered at www.EganFuneralHome.com