Ronald Ross Utecht

Ronald Ross Utecht passed away at age 70 in Spokane Valley on January 20th, 2018, after fighting a courageous battle with Frontotemporal Dementia (FTD) for the past 12 years. He was surrounded by family in his last moments.  Ron was born and raised in the Spokane Valley, a graduate of Central Valley High School, Yakima Valley Community College, and Washington State University with a B.S. in Agronomy and a Masters in Education. He spent two years in service to our country in the Army, stationed at Arlington Cemetery in Fort Meyer, VA.  He returned to his beloved Spokane Valley with the love of his life, Eileen (Ott) Utecht, and continued his career at Central Valley High School teaching Vocational Agriculture and Sciences for 30 years. He was active as a leader in various organizations including FFA/4H, Spokane Gun Club, Junior Livestock Show, Spokane Interstate Fair and served as a board member for the Consolidated Irrigation District for 17 years. He was an avid outdoorsman, loved farming and will be remembered for his humorous antics. He is survived by his wife Eileen and their three sons Jeff (Daneah), Greg (Cammie), Bryan (Amy) and four grandchildren Grace, Gavin, Robert and Lydia. He is preceded in death by his father, Elmer Utecht, mother Jeanne (Reopelle), and his sister Judy Schmidt. He will be greatly missed by his family and friends. We want to thank the office staff, nurses and caregivers at Brighton Court Assisted Living and Memory Care for all their support and help over the past 2.5 years. We also want to thank and encourage the researchers and staff at the University of California San Francisco (UCSF) for their ongoing research into this terrible dementia. Ron had participated in many of their research studies over the years. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations to be made in Ron’s name to research for Frontal Temporal Dementia online at http://bit.ly/ronutecht or at his memorial.  A service will be held at Hennessey Valley Funeral Home & Crematory, 1315 N. Pines, in Spokane Valley on February 1st, at 11:00 a.m.

 Service Information