Ronald Eugene Brant

Ronald Eugene Brant, 84 of Toledo, died on February 28 in Palm Beach County, FL after a brief illness. Ronnie was born, October 8, 1937 in Stoystown, PA to Luther and Mary Ellen Brant. He was a track and football star for the Somerset Golden "Iggles" (as he called them), setting school records in both the 100 and 220 yard dashes. Ron was also an Eagle Scout with the Boy Scouts of America. Upon graduation in 1955, he attended Oklahoma State University, running track for the Cowboys, graduating in 1960. Ron married Shirley Catherine Troy on August 22, 1960 and they were married 49 and a half years. They loved life, taking trips, going dancing and playing tennis. He began his career as a coach and teacher in 1960 at Middlefield (OH) Cardinal High School before moving to Fremont where he taught science at the Fremont Junior High for 32 years and was head coach of the Fremont Ross Little Giants Track and Cross Country teams for 10 and 15 years respectively. In 2017 he was inducted into the school's Athletic Hall of Fame. Outside of his family, whom he loved dearly, his main love was running. A 3-time Boston Marathon Qualifier he competed in the world's most famous race twice. His Marathon PR was 2:57 which at the time, was in top 1% in the world. Up until about 4 years ago he ran 5k races every weekend for 30+ years. He passed along his love of running to his family as his daughter-in-law also qualified for and ran at Boston. His son and granddaughters also are runners, running many 5k's over the years with him. Ron was longtime Race Director of the Camelback Run in Fremont and in 2012, was inducted into the Fremont Elite Runners Club Hall of Fame. Besides running, Ron loved playing cards with his love, Ellen, whom he met online then forgot everything there was to know about the internet. Ron and Ellen also enjoyed seeing Ragtime Rick perform with his band each Wednesday night in downtown Toledo. Pop-Pop also loved his three granddaughters immensely. He was known for his blanket fort building prowess and having more fun playing with Play-Dohthan his granddaughters. Ron was also known to make people smile with his sense of humor. Looking in the mirror he'd say, "What a nice picture. Oh, that's a mirror, that's me. I thought it was a Rembrandt, here it's a Ron Brant." If he hadn't seen anybody in a while he'd say, "I haven't seen you since the 8th grade picnic!" When arriving at someone's home, "I would've been here sooner, but I just got here." He is survived by his partner, Ellen Elton, son Ryan(Kim) of Holland, OH, granddaughters Aislynn and Ava, both of Tempe, AZ and Aubrey of Holland, OH. Also surviving are his sisters, Melanie Heiple of Somerset, PA and Beverly (Kermit) Shaulis of Wilmington, NC along with numerous nephews and nieces. He is preceded in death by his parents, wife Shirley and beloved brothers-in-law and sisters-in-law. A celebration of life will be held at a future date. In lieu of flowers, please make donations to Oklahoma State Cross Country and Track or the Fremont Area Foundation https://www.fremontareafoundation.org/give/ http://okstate.com/donate