Ron Crowe

I usually don't devote a full column to people unless they've died but I'm going to deviate from that policy today because it involves one of the very best friends I've ever had and an accident that has him in bad shape.

Eleven days ago, Ron Crowe fell and hit his head on concrete as he was getting out of his pickup at home. The people across the street didn't see it happen but did see him lying prone on the ground and unconscious and immediately called 911. He was rushed to Good Samaritan Hospital in Kearney, accompanied by his wife Sharon. She had called me to tell me about the accident and where they were transporting him to.

I called his cell phone the next morning and was surprised that he answered. Except for trouble hearing me, he seemed to be in possession of all his faculties and we had a short but normal conversation about how he was feeling and how long he might have to stay hospitalized. Unfortunately with every passing day after that, things seemed to get worse instead of better and this past Wednesday he was transferred to the Intensive Care Unit at Bryan West Hospital in Lincoln.

I met Ron shortly after I moved to McCook 18-plus years ago at the old Elks Club where we were both members and we began a friendship that has remained steadfast through the years.

Before I arrived in McCook, Ron had worked at the McCook Daily Gazette for many years in what he fondly and often recalls as his "dream" job. Because of his experience in the newspaper business, anytime he was about to tell me a story or a rumor about someone or something in and around McCook, he would always preface his remarks by telling me "This is off the record" which would insure that his comments wouldn't show up in a subsequent column I wrote. Long after he left, he continued to visit the Gazette almost every day and talk to the people he used to work with. He has told me many times that was the best job he ever had and he wished he had never left.

The reason he did was the opportunity to buy half interest in the KBRL/KICX radio stations in McCook. That's what he was doing when I moved to town and I started my radio program called Mike at Night due to a collaboration between us that aired every Sunday night until the station was sold to Dave Stout.

He also owns and continues to operate RC Specialties, located downtown on the bricks, selling pens, caps, T-shirts and about anything else people could want and has several local and area business owners as his customers.

I don't know anyone who doesn't like Ron and that puts him on a level that most of us will never reach.

He's kind, considerate and always willing to help and that's a rare combination of qualities to have these days.

He and Sharon's favorite vacation spot is the Bellagio Hotel in Las Vegas and I've been telling him for over a year that they need to go back again. When he recovers, I hope they're able to make that trip one more time. Sharon is the love of his life and the apple of his eye and she has been with him almost constantly since the accident happened. They have one child, Kerry, who is an engineer for the railroad and lives in Oxford.

I know many of you know and love Ron as I do and some of you weren't aware of the critical situation he's in. The thing about blows to the head and brain is that the outcome is often unpredictable. He could make a full recovery or the opposite could happen and no one, including the health care specialists that are taking care of him, can predict what the ultimate outcome will be.

So I urge everyone to keep him in your thoughts or prayers. He's one of a kind and they're not making any more like him.