Ronald Harry Prentice, 81, passed away on May 19, 2025 at home, in Eugene, Oregon. Ron was born in Manchester, Connecticut to Marion and Harry Prentice, the middle child of three sons. 

His older brother Billy’s death at age 12 from leukemia was a defining moment of Ron’s childhood. He graduated from Manchester High School in 1961, after several years as the class clown. 

Ron attended Gettysburg College, one of the first in his family to go to college, and where he was kicked out of his fraternity for teaching others the “secret” handshake. After graduation, Ron married his high school sweetheart, Barbara Johnson, in June 1965, and taught foreign languages in Glastonbury, CT for several years. 

A lifelong polyglot, Ron was fluent in Spanish and French, and enjoyed exploring other languages, including Swedish and Russian. In 1970, he and Barb lived in Madrid, Spain, for a year, where he studied as part of his graduate program with Middlebury College. He considered this a highlight of his life. Ron spent the next twenty years of his career in the Berkshires, teaching in public schools in Pittsfield, Great Barrington and Williamstown. He loved finding new ways to make language learning accessible to his students, and spent hundreds of hours transcribing Spanish adaptations of cartoons and making flash cards. Ron was also an amateur artist, whose works decorated the family homes wherever they lived. In 2006, Ron and Barb moved across the country to Oregon to celebrate the birth of their grandson, Gabriel. He found great happiness in being a grandfather and being near his daughter, Sara. Ron loved all kinds of music and left a large collection of CDs, ranging from Gregorian chant to Johnny Cash. He was a longtime, faithful, AA member and lived in gratitude for his sobriety. He was predeceased by his parents and brothers Billy and Bob. He is survived by his wife, Barbara, daughter Sara and her spouse Eryn, and grandson Gabriel.