Ronald "Ronnie" Teck

Ronald George (“Ronnie”) Teck, the only child of George Teck and Josephine (LaPatka) Teck, was born in Ellwood City, Lawrence County, Pennsylvania, on Thursday, May 9, 1946. His parents had been married in New Castle in September 1944. His father was a U.S. Army veteran and a police officer with Perry Township. His mother, known as Josie or Jay, had worked at the Wallace Run plant of Babcock & Wilcox (B&W) in Beaver Falls.

At the time of his birth his parents lived in the Connor house on Oswald Street in Chewton, Pennsylvania, not far from the LaPatka family farm where his mother Josie was born and raised. They rented the back of the house, while Josie’s brother Steve LaPatka (who was Ronnie’s favorite uncle) and his wife Stella lived in the front portion. For a time George worked in Chewton as a bartender at the Slovak Club, a social hall managed by Josie’s brother Joe LaPatka.

Ronnie started school in 1952 and attended the Chewton Public Schools for grades one and two. Starting with the third grade (in 1954) he transferred to St. Teresa’s Catholic School in Koppel. The Teck family moved in mid-1957 to #120 Third Avenue in Koppel, a house formerly owned by George Teck’s parents. They made lots of improvements to their new home and would often entertain guests in the large dining hall. Ronnie’s father later resigned his position as a police officer in late 1959 and started working at the recently opened B&W steel processing plant in Koppel. While Ronnie attended St. Teresa’s his mother, who loved to cook for large groups, found employment there in the cafeteria as the head cook.

Ronnie completed the eighth grade in Koppel in May 1960 and the following fall he was enrolled as a freshman at Lincoln Senior High School in Ellwood City. On Tuesday, June 12, 1962, he was among the thirty-one people who passed a two-day examination at the State Police Armory in New Castle and was awarded his driver’s license. Two years later, in May 1964, Ronnie graduated from Lincoln High and began working at the B&W plant in Beaver Falls. At about that time, while attending a dance at Cascade Park in New Castle, he met a girl named Sherry Lee Fulkerson of Dewey Avenue in New Castle. Sherry was a graduate of New Castle High School and was employed at Hills Department Store. They started dating and were engaged in September 1965. That same month Ronnie, who had enlisted in the U.S. Air Force, was off to attend basic training at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas.

After completing basic training Ronnie, who would serve in the occupation of a Cryptographic Technician, was stationed at North Truro Air Force Station, a radar site (which closed in 1985) located on beautiful Cape Cod, Massachusetts. Ronnie returned home on leave and married Sherry at St. Mary’s Catholic Church in New Castle on April 30, 1966. Daniel “Danny” Vellone served as his best man. They had a daughter, Roni Sue Teck, born at St. Francis Hospital in New Castle on January 3, 1967.

Ronnie decided to return to civilian life and accepted a discharge from the Air Force in 1967 as an Airman Third Class. Ronnie and his family took up residence in Koppel - and soon in New Castle - while he returned to work at B&W in Beaver Falls. Ronnie and Sherry suffered marital issues and were divorced in 1968. Sherry later remarried and relocated with their daughter Roni Sue to the suburbs east of Pittsburgh.

A few years later Ronnie met a young lady from Tenth Street in West Pittsburg named Patricia (“Patti”) Santangelo. They applied for a marriage license on July 11, 1972, and were married in New Castle soon after. Ronnie left B&W in about 1973, relocated to Austintown in eastern Ohio, and found work in the real estate industry. Ronnie had a love of boats and in 1979 he went to work for the Bowman Plaza Marine boat dealership in Canfield, Ohio. He worked as a salesman and later as the sales manager. At about that same time Ronnie and Sandy, who had went their separate ways, were divorced in 1979.

Later that same year Ronnie was at a gathering at a friend’s house in Austintown when he met a woman named Sandra Jane (“Sandy”) Piriak. They got along famously and were married in her hometown of Salem, Ohio, on January 2, 1981. In 1983 they moved to nearby Canfield. On June 7, 1983, Sandy gave birth to a daughter named Jessica Rene Teck on Tuesday, June 7, 1983, at St. Elizabeth’s Hospital in Youngstown. A couple of years later, in 1985, Ronnie went to work at the General Motors automobile plant in Lordstown, Ohio. He performed various duties in the hard trim department.

Ronnie’s daughter Jessica attended the local schools while growing up and later graduated from Austintown-Fitch High School in 2002. She soon found love with James (“Jimmy”) LaRosa, was married in June 2005, and relocated with her husband to the area near Boston, Massachusetts.

In later years Ronnie had to prove his mettle as he was faced with lots of adversity. Back in the late 1980’s his parents, who had lived in Koppel for many years, underwent an unpleasant separation and were divorced. This led to a permanent fracture within the family. His daughter Jessica was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis (MS) in early 2007 and began to lean on her parents for support during her battle with the debilitating disease. Ronnie also had his hands full as his dear father George, suffering from the effects of old age, came to live with him in February 2009. His mother Josie also passed away in November 2009.

Ronnie is a big time football, fishing, and boating enthusiast. He has owned seven boats over the years and his favorite boating location is Lac McGillivray, a freshwater lake located in Quebec, Canada. Ronnie and wife Sandy still live in eastern Ohio.