​Ron Brennan of Kincardine dies at the age of 88

Ronald John Brennan of Kincardine, died Feb. 12, 2025, at the Kincardine Hospital. He was 88.

In the summer of 1936, a record-breaking heat wave smothered central Ontario. Asphalt scorched shoe soles, livestock collapsed from dehydration, and fields lay blanched and bereft. Amidst this sweltering chaos, July 7, 1936, Ronald John Brennan was born to Isabel Griffith.

Ron was raised on a small farm in Glammis. As a boy, he was hardworking and mischievous. When he wasn’t pranking his older sister, Lois, he diligently helped his uncle with their livestock.

Later in life, he would take great pleasure in regaling his grandchildren with gruesome anecdotes from farm life: hunting gophers, eating head cheese, and piercing pig hearts. Regardless of the weather, Ron walked several miles to get to school. This dedication foreshadowed a life-long passion for education and learning.

At the age of 18, he became a teacher, travelling north of Thunder Bay, to teach Grades 1-13 in a small square room of a school. He later attended McMaster University and then began teaching at a high-school level. Despite his career success, his mischievous streak persisted in the form of sports cars which he drove and crashed in a roguish manner. His favourite was a black MG.

Ron met his wife, Marcia (now deceased), while they were both teaching in Mississauga. He often marvelled at his fortune: how did a beautiful and intelligent woman choose a farm boy like him? However, they were equally enchanted with each other. They married and had two sons, Michael and Jeffery.

The Brennan family settled in Cambridge where Ron became the head of the business department at Preston Public High School. He retired after more than 30 years as a teacher.

In retirement, Ron travelled the world, a priority he instilled in his grandchildren. He went to the Galapagos Islands to visit Lonesome George, the last male tortoise of his sub-species. He journeyed to Kenya to see his eldest son get married. And, in a trip inspired by his interest in the First World War and history, he trekked through Europe to visit battlefields, rubbing elbows with esteemed historians, such as Tim Cook.

To know Ron, was to know his love for trees. Across his lifetime, he planted and nurtured more than 1,000 trees in a plot of land near where he was raised. White pines, red pines, and his favourite — the noble oak. His hands dug holes, cradled roots, and pruned branches.

In his younger years, he would scale trees, shirtless, with spikes fastened to his shoes, trimming them with glee. It wasn’t unusual for Ron to spot a tree infested with weevils and start peeling apart the branches, squishing the white bugs between his thumb and forefinger to prevent them from attacking any of his other branched children.

Every Thanksgiving, Ron and his family would walk under a canopy of brilliant red and yellow leaves, admiring his new additions to the nursery and marvelling at the ancient growth in the ‘inner sanctum’. He would point out the thick old oaks that deserved a hug and his grandchildren would happily oblige, taught to cherish and hug trees as soon as they could slip on rain boots and follow him through the forest.

Feb. 12, 2025, as snowflakes beckoned the approaching snowstorm closer, Ron passed away in Kincardine Hospital, at the age of 88.

He is survived by his sons and five granddaughters: Michael and Ana’s daughters — Sienna, Savannah, and Stephanie; and Jeff and Joy’s daughters — Sarah and Jaclyn.

A graveside service will be held in the spring; arrangements entrusted to the Davey-Linklater Funeral Home, Kincardine; www.daveylinklaterfuneralhome.com.