Ronald David (Ron) Riemer

Ronald David (Ron) Riemer died peacefully at 84 years, at Mayo Clinic Hospital on February 24, 2023, with his wife at his side. He was born on February 14,1939 in Chicago, where he lived until 2014. Ron was the oldest of two children of Amelia and David Riemer, Jr. He graduated from Elmhurst College, Elmhurst IL in 1961, where he majored in Psychology. He also met his future wife, Kathy, there, and they were married in 1963.

Always an avid athlete (he would tell friends later in life that he was a former natural athlete), he played baseball and golf on the Elmhurst College teams. But his greatest passion was for the game of golf. He began as a caddie at Park Ridge Country Club, Park Ridge IL, at the age of 12. He continued as a caddie into his college years, eventually reaching the Number 2 caddie status. While caddying there, he enjoyed meeting many club members who took an interest and eventually helped him find his way into the advertising industry.

After graduating with a BA degree, he worked for a few years in insurance sales and advertising promotions. But by the late ‘60s, he found his true calling. He began working in advertising sales for a small industry publication called Golfdom. Within a year he moved to Golf Magazine, then for a few years to Golf Digest, then back to Golf Magazine, where he continued until his retirement in 2003. He spent most of his career as director of golf equipment advertising sales which brought him into contact with countless industry leaders and equipment executives. Many of them were to become lifelong friends.

His career enabled him to be totally immersed in the golf industry and he embraced it with a passion. Of course, he loved playing the game, and spent some 50 years as a low, single-digit-handicap golfer. He was a member at Bob-O-Link Golf Club, Highland Park IL, Desert Forest Golf Club, Carefree AZ, Loch Lomond Golf Club, Loch Lomond Scotland, Gullane Golf Club, Gullane Scotland and an honorary member at Pumpkin Ridge Golf Club, North Plains OR. In 1976, Ron and is wife bought a flat overlooking the 1st and 18th holes on the Old Course, St. Andrews Scotland, which they retained until 2001. During that time Ron enjoyed playing many of Scotland’s great courses. His career enabled him to play many of the United States’ greatest courses as well as others around the world. He loved it all!

Ron and his wife spent the first 40 years of their life together in the Chicago area. But in 1970 both Ron’s and Kathy’s careers brought them into the Phoenix area on business, and they began to visit on a regular basis making countless friends in the process. In 2001 they built a home in Carefree AZ, where they lived, along with their Chicago residence, until 2014, when they became fulltime Arizonans.

Ron served on the boards of directors of the National Golf Foundation and Bob-O-Link Golf Club. He also served as a rating panelist for Golf Magazine’s Top 100 Courses for more than 30 years.

Ron was preceded in death by his parents, Amelia and David, and is survived by his wife of nearly 60 years, Kathy, his sister, Karen and her husband, Tom Jumes, his sister-in-law, Carolyn and her husband Jim Berghoefer, as well as numerous nieces, nephews, cousins and great nieces and nephews.

He’ll be remembered most for his wit, humor and love of golf, which he shared generously with all who knew him. He will be dearly missed by family and friends alike.

At present, no services are planned. Anyone wishing to honor his memory may do so via the Western Golf Association Evans Scholarship Foundation: https://wgaesf.org/content/memorials-and-honorarium.