Captain Ronald C. Stanonis, a short time resident of Southold, died suddenly of an assumed heart attack in Amsterdam, Holland on July 6, 2015. He was 72 years old.
Ronald was born in Queens on January 20, 1943 to Charles J. and Adele M. (Emge) Stanonis. He had previously lived in Center Moriches and maintained a residence in Brooksville, Florida.
Ron is survived by his twin brother Gerry, of Southold, his brother Bob, of Mattituck and a half-sister Laura, who resides in Oslo, Norway.
Ron graduated from Walt Whitman High School, South Huntington, in 1960. He was appointed to the U.S. Coast Guard Academy as a cadet and sailed to Europe on the Coast Guard tall ship Eagle. He left the Coast Guard after two years of service.
Ronald worked his way through Queens College as a waiter, wine steward, and assistant manager in the restaurant industry. He received his BA in Mathematics from Queens College in 1968.
He then went to California and worked as a technician aboard two oceanographic research vessels in the far Eastern Pacific visiting Japan, Taiwan, the Philippines and Guam.
He started his teaching career as a substitute teacher in the Comsewogue School District, Port Jefferson Station, 1971 to 1972. For 26 years, Ron was employed as a Junior High Mathematics teacher in the NYC public school system. He retired in 1996.
The sea has always been Ron’s love and passion. This culminated in his obtaining the U.S. Merchant Marine Captain’s License in 1997.
In the Gulf of Mexico, he got a position as mate aboard a supply vessel for Tidewater servicing oil rigs. A back injury on the oil rig terminated his sea career, but Ron continued to travel to many different ports in the world by sea.
The family will receive friends on Monday, August 10 from 4 to 8 p.m. at the DeFriest-Grattan Funeral Home in Mattituck. Services will begin at 5:30 p.m. led by Father Patrick McNamara. Interment, with U.S. Coast Guard honors, will take place on Wednesday, August 12 at 10:30 a.m. at the Calverton National Cemetery. The cortege will leave the Funeral Home at 10:00 a.m.