Ronald D. Jarchow

Ronald Dean Jarchow was born November 11, 1937, in Hawkeye, Iowa, to Fred and Olive Jarchow. Upon graduating from Oelwein High School in 1955, he attended Iowa State Teachers College in Cedar Falls, Iowa, earning a Bachelor’s Degree in Business in 1959. He was president of Sigma Tau Gamma fraternity. After graduation, he entered the Management Training program at J.C. Penney Company in Waterloo, Iowa. There he met his first wife, Sharon Ellerman, with whom he had four children: Scott, Brian, Kevin, and Tamra. They divorced and he married his second wife, Diane Hartvigsen, who was killed in an automobile accident shortly afterwards. He then married, Elaine McNally, and they had Ron’s fifth child, Elizabeth.

After a short time with J.C. Penney, Ron taught school in Des Moines, Iowa, for four years, after which he spent twenty-two years with the Iowa Department of Public Instruction as a vocational consultant and administrator at the time of the development of the Iowa Community College system in the 1960s. While employed at the Department of Public Instruction, he completed a Master’s Degree at the University of Northern Iowa. Beginning in 1986, Ron accompanied his wife to three different universities: New Mexico State University in Las Cruces, University of Nevada in Las Vegas, and to Texas Tech University in Lubbock, Texas as she was pursuing her career in higher education.

Texas Tech University provided the opportunity for Ron and Elaine to go to Saudi Arabia and to the United Arab Emirates where Elaine helped develop universities for Arab women. The six years spent in the Middle East provided many opportunities to travel to countries in the region. Ron and Elaine retired in Northern Kentucky (Elaine retiring from Northern Kentucky University) where he enjoyed playing bridge, going to movies, reading, antiquing, traveling, spending many hours working on Jarchow genealogy, and spending a part of the winter months in Florida. They very much enjoyed sailing to Europe on various ocean liners including the Queen Mary II and taking various cruise excursions to different ports. In 2018 they moved to Venice, Florida, and very recently to Akron, Ohio.

Ron was preceded in death by his parents and his second wife, Diane. Ron is survived by his wife, Elaine, his children Scott (Julie) Jarchow, Brian (Christie) Jarchow, Kevin Jarchow, Tamra Wayman, and Elizabeth Walters, eight grand children, fourteen great grand children, his brother, Larry (Janet) Jarchow of Flagstaff, Arizona, one nephew and one niece.

Visitation will be held on Saturday, May 16, 2026 from 11:00am to 1:00pm at Linnemann Funeral Homes, Erlanger. Words will be shared by family and friends at 12:00pm. Ronald will be laid to rest at St. John Cemetery, Ft. Mitchell.