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& Betty Carol Fitzpatrick Married: April 6, 1963 In the summer of 1962, Ronnie was working at Buntin’s Garage in Carlisle as an auto clean-up person where he later moved up to working in the auto parts department. Betty was in the ninth grade at Demming High School in Mt. Olivet, Kentucky. Ronnie went out one evening with his sister, Carolyn, and she introduced me to her friend, Betty Carol Fitzpatrick. She was 15 and I was 18; in those days, age wasn't as important as it is now. We dated for about ten months. Ronnie and Betty were married in Carlisle, Kentucky on April 6, 1963 at the Presbyterian Church on Broadway St. Ronnie and Betty moved into a small trailer on Myers Station Road in Carlisle, Kentucky. In June of 1963, they found out that Betty was pregnant and would need a bigger place to live. They moved into a house in Myers Station, living there a short time before moving to a house in Carlisle in November 1963. Betty had a lot of problems with her kidneys and was in and out of the hospital several times while she was pregnant. Their oldest daughter Lisa June was born on December 18, 1963 while they lived there. In September of 1964, they moved to Georgetown to be closer to his job at Stiohn Products where he deburred parts for IBM typewriters. Their second daughter, Anna Carol, was born while they lived in Georgetown. After working there for about a year, Ronnie enrolled in a four-year government sponsored apprentice program as a Tool and Die maker. To complete the program, he had to have on-the-job experience and finish four years of school at Central Kentucky Vocational School. Betty was a stay-at-home mom, and she had her hands full with the two girls. Betty and Ronnie moved into a house in Lexington, Kentucky in 1966. Our Son Ronald Jr. was born on June 9, 1966 in Lexington. Ronnie finished the apprenticeship program in 1969. Betty and I had our house burn in the summer of 1969 while visiting Betty's sister, Sandy Thompson, in Tampa, Florida. We lost everything except what we had taken with us. Ronnie was laid off from his job December 1969 because all government contracts were frozen and it was hard to find work. We moved to Indianapolis, Indiana because there was work there. We lived with Ronnie's sister, Carolyn Curtis. I don't think Betty was very happy moving away from the place where her family and friends lived. She didn't say anything, but Ronnie knew that this was one of the hardest things she had to do. These were some hard times for the family as they didn't have much and it took everything they made to live on. Our car went shot and Ronnie's father loaned him an old car to get back and forth to work. Ronnie's first job was as a machinist at Midwest Bridge corp. That year we would go to the Goodwill stores and buy toys for the children and put them away for their Christmas. Betty and her sister, Sandy, would go to the parks and hunt night crawlers and sell them so we would have enough money to buy our groceries. On January 8, 1970, we moved into an apartment on Nowland Ave. We later moved to an apartment on 10th Street in Indianapolis. In April of 1970, Ronnie's father died from cirrhosis of the liver because he had drank whiskey for most of his life. Ronnie's mother didn't have any family living in Carlisle, KY, so we helped her sell her house there. She bought a house in Indianapolis and moved there in the summer of 1970. Ronnie went to work for Insley Manufacturing in May 1970 as a machinist/inspector and later became President of the local union. Our family became members of the Wallace Street Presbyterian church. Ronnie and Betty's three children Lisa, Anna and Ronald Jr. were baptized in the church on April 4, 1972. We bought our first house at 4031 North Irwin Street in August 1972. Ronnie quit Insley Mfg. in 1973 and went to work for Purdue University at Indianapolis as a Laboratory Technician in the School of Engineering Technology. He started coaching in a youth football league in 1975 where their son played football. After Ronnie, Jr. was out of the program, he stayed on as a coach. Ronnie later became President/Coach of the Lawrence youth football league. Ronnie and Betty volunteered at the league until Ronnie left in 1995. During this time, Ronnie also coached a youth baseball league for three years. In 1991, Ronnie along with five others Lawrence residents and the assistance of the local schools organized a youth basketball program in the Lawrence schools which became very popular in the Lawrence township schools. Ronnie worked for the University until July of 1978 where he quit because the salary wasn't enough to supply the family with their needs. Ronnie went to work at National Aluminum as a maintenance man. In August 1981, their oldest daughter moved out to become her own person and in 1982 married Christian Hunnicutt. In the 1980's, Ronnie & Betty became foster parents and took in foster kids. One of the foster kids, Steven Wayne Banks December 22, 1980 – August 10, 1981. Sherrie Jones moved in on Feburary-1982. Sherrie stayed until she finished high school and went to medical school where she finished and moved out on her own. In November 1981, Ronnie was contacted by the university where he worked before and decided to return to work for them. Our youngest daughter, Anna, moved out in May 1983 after graduation and married Greg Wert. In the early 1980's, Ronnie and Betty started riding motorcycles and spent all of their vacations on them. On January 10, 1983, their first grandson was born to Lisa Hunnicutt in Indianapolis, IN. In July 1983, they and some friends took a trip from Indianapolis to Nova Scotia, Canada. In 1984 Betty found out that she had a heart problem and had to adjust her lifestyle. Ron and Betty bought their first new motorcycle in May 1984. In 1985, they rode motorcycles to northern Montana with Charles and Theresa Pritchard who were good friends of theirs. On May 26, 1986, Betty started working for Poly Gram Records Disruption center in Indianapolis, which later became Universal Records. March 1987 Betty and Ronnie with friends formed a motorcycle club. They named it Central Indiana Riders motorcycle club. Ronnie was elected as President and stayed in the club for several years. In 1987 Ronnie & Betty rode Motorcycles to Colorado and visited the area where Ronnie was born. In September, 1987 they found out Betty was in the early stage of Multiple Sclerosis. June 1988 Betty, Ronnie, Charley and Theresa Pritchard rode their motorcycles to Nashville, Tenn., New Orleans and Key West, Florida. June 1989 Betty, Ronnie, and friends Tom and Chris Collins rode their motorcycles to San Frisco, California and then on north to Roseburg, Oregon where they spent some time with some relatives of Ronnie's who he hasn't seen since he was very young. May 1990 they bought a house and moved to 3925 Erickson Court in Indianapolis and moved into it after renting the house they were living in. They took a Motorcycle trip with friends Bill and Lisa Brant to Upper Peninsula of Michigan in June 1990. Anna and Greg Wert gave Ronnie and Betty their second grandchild William Gregory Wert on June 25 1991 at Indianapolis, Indiana. Three days later June 28, 1991 their third grandson James Michael Asbury was born to Lisa and Mike Asbury in Lexington, Kentucky. We rode our motorcycle to Cody, Wyoming in August of 1991 to a bike rally. On March 1992 they rented their home and bought a house at 3714 Luewan Dr. in Indianapolis and moved into it. Ronnie's mother June moved in with us in August 1992 because her house was becoming too much for her to handle. She lived with us until March of 2004 when we lost her to a stroke. On December 11, 1994 Anna and Greg Wert gave us our fourth grandson, Jonathan David Wert. On September 15, 1997, Ronnie and Betty lost their only son, Ronald, Jr., to a terrible accident which took a lot out of them. In June of 1998, Ron and Betty took a cruise with Betty’s brother Terry and wife Karen to Hawaii and toured the Hawaiian Islands and Fanning Island. October 4, 2000 Betty was granted her disability from work due to her Multiple Sclerosis and a Micro valve prolepses in her heart. In November 2000 Ronnie and Betty took a Western Caribbean cruise with their daughter Lisa and niece Candy to visit the Grand Cayman Islands and Cozumel. In November of 2003, they took a cruise to the eastern Caribbean Islands. Ronnie retired from the University on June 31, 2004 at the age of 62. In November of 2005, Ronnie and Betty moved to Holiday, Florida and now live at 5608 Riddle Rd. They moved to Florida to enjoy the nice weather. Betty loves to work in her yard with the flowers and Ronnie loves to go boating and fishing. They keep a camping trailer at Lake Monroe in Bloomington, Indiana to spend time with family and friends that live in Indiana. In 2008, Ron and Betty started restoring a 27-foot boat that they had. It has taken us a year to finish the boat, but we have finished restoring, rebuilding a motor and replacing the old one with it. It is now 2009 and we have came to love the Florida life and warm weather. We now make at least two trips to Indiana to visit our children and for Ronnie to do some catfish fishing with friends at Lake Monroe in Bloomington, IN where we have a camper. Our oldest grandson now has two children, Nichole and Donavan, and we are glad that we get to visit with them while there. We are lucky that several of our friends were able to come and visit with us this year. Our daughters and grandchildren came to visit us at while the kids were on spring break. It sure was great having them here to spend time with and enjoy our grandchildren and great-grandchildren. The summer of 2010 had being going great. Betty had a good friend, Debbie Vancleave, that she enjoyed doing everything with while in Indiana buy a house a few blocks form our house in November and moved here. She has enjoyed spending time with her as they enjoy doing about the same things. It is good that Betty has someone to spend time with and doing things she really enjoys. Ronnie spends his time fishing and working on some of the projects that has piled up. Our daughter Lisa, Mike, Liam, Matthew and a good friend Chad Flynn came to our house this year for Christmas so we are having a family-type Christmas this season. We decorated our boat up and was in a couple of boat parades and had a Florida-style Christmas. Betty and Ronnie went to a New Year's party at the Moose Lodge with Steve Jackson and Debbie Vancleave to wish in the 2011 year. Betty and Debbie have found another friend that lives across the street from us, Rebecca Forman, and now they are a threesome. Our grandson, Matthew Asbury, is getting married to Jennifer Catherine Hoskins on June 25th. Ronnie was asked to do the photographs for the wedding. In May, Betty found out that her friend, Debbie Vancleave, has lung cancer and must do treatments. Because Debbie didn't have anyone to take her for the treatments, Betty missed Matthew's wedding on May 25, 2010. Ronnie and Betty went to Indiana in September to visit with family and set up another trailer they had bought at Lake Monroe. Betty and Ronnie went to Carlisle, KY for Ronnie to visit some old classmates and family and spent the night with Ronnie's cousin, Dennis and Lueann Kelley. They also spent a few days with Betty's sister, Sandy Thompson, who lived in Cynthiana, KY. Betty and her sisters, Sandy Thompson and Tempie Abner, went to her mother's Gullitt family reunion in Nicholasville, KY. After returning to Florida, Betty's friend Debbie was told that the cancer treatments did no good and Debbie was sent to the Lord on October 19, 2011. Lisa, Mike, Liam and Chad came for a weeks visit on October 3, 2011. Tom and Jennifer Pate came from Indianapolis for a week on October 14, 2011. We really enjoy having our family and friends for visits as this makes it easier being so far from where we lived in Indiana.
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