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Obituary

Ronald Erwin Toffen, NB8Q, (73) of Newport, Michigan, passed away on October 1, 2023, surrounded by his family.

Ron’s biggest accomplishment and favorite role, was being a loving, devoted father and grandfather. He loved nothing more than spending time with his daughters and grandchildren. He was incredibly kind and had the ability to make others smile with his thoughtfulness and humor.

Ron was very passionate about talking to people from all over the world. He was a decades long HAM radio operator, with the call sign of NB8Q. He could transmit morse code or voice and enjoyed CW and DX’ing. He has an amazing collection of QSL cards, from the many contacts he made world wide.  His “HAM shack” and collection was very impressive, complete with radios, antennas, repeaters and many electronics that he had taken apart to see how they worked, or built from scratch. It was incredible to see how smart and talented he was, especially when he experimented and created a new device.

Ron loved to travel, taking many trips up north with his family, spending summers at Jellystone Park campground, in Traverse City and other trips, including a few of his favorites to New Orleans and an Alaskan Cruise.

Ron retired from the Taylor School District, after more than thirty years of dedicated employment, working as a computer engineer.

He graduated from Cody High School in Detroit, Michigan, class of 1968 and attended Wayne County Community College and Henry Ford Community College, pursuing Computer Technology and Networking.

Ronald, loving Father of Tiffany (Jack) Toffen, Natalie (Josh) Carroll, dearest Papa and Grandfather to Mileena, Dalton and Jack.
He is also survived by his friend and former wife, Claudia Helton, his brothers Jerry (Germaine) Toffen, Lester (Carol) Toffen and several nieces, nephews and cousins. He is preceded in death by his parents Peter and Margaret Toffen and his brother Larry Toffen.