Rebel Ron

[FakeNameChanged]

REBel Ron Branam has passed away. Ron was a longtime member of PA. He was a quadriplegic after suffering a devastating car accident early in his long career as a court reporter, and later a legal aid for the State of Iowa. He was a true gentleman in every sense of the word, and my online and occasional telephone friend. I participated in a few online tournaments with him, and he was a good handicapper of quarter horses.

The thread on closed racetracks jogged my memory as he loved and played AKSARBEN live, driving there in his specially equipped car. While he was legally considered a quad(his words not mine), he did have some use of his hands. He jokingly bragged to me that he could get to the track in two hours, door to door, after he managed to get into his vehicle. We lost touch sometime in the summer of 2019, and no one answered his cell or home line after a few attempts. He had battled pneumonia a few times while I knew him. He was a fan of NorCal Greg also.

https://www.dignitymemorial.com/obit...branam-9181556

[headhawg]

Very sad news. REBel and I exchanged emails about handicapping and software many times. He was a super nice guy. Condolences to family and friends.

RIP Ron.

[PaceAdvantage]

Very sorry to read this news.

It always hits home when I hear or read something "in real life" about a member here.

We should always remember there are human beings behind these posts (well, 99.9% of them anyway...lol), and we should all strive to be nicer (including me of course) to our fellow contributors on this message board.

You never know when you're typing to someone for the last time ever, or if the person you are calling names in a post is struggling with something devastating in real life (like the loss of a loved one).

So my message for everyone in 2021 is to be nicer.

[FakeNameChanged]

Originally Posted by PaceAdvantage

Very sorry to read this news.

It always hits home when I hear or read something "in real life" about a member here.

We should always remember there are human beings behind these posts (well, 99.9% of them anyway...lol), and we should all strive to be nicer (including me of course) to our fellow contributors on this message board.

You never know when you're typing to someone for the last time ever, or if the person you are calling names in a post is struggling with something devastating in real life (like the loss of a loved one).

So my message for everyone in 2021 is to be nicer.

Very true Mike about real life.

REBel Ron and I shared an admiration for Charles Krauthammer, who had almost an identical spinal injury. I never heard him say a disparaging word about anybody on here, or otherwise. I can be somewhat argumentative in person, but have met quite a few nice guys on here, even if we differed politically, or philosophically.

We recently lost an old friend to liver cancer, and another lifelong friend and classmate at PSU, battled for his life with covid. After 12 days in the hospital, 4 in ICU, he came home with an oxygen tank. So what people say on PA does not usually register on my getting upset meter. Maybe 2021 can be a better year on the forum as well as the country.