Ronald L. Wing

Artist, Illustrator and Cartoonist, Ronald L. Wing, a 48 year resident of Benton, much loved and admired by family and friends, passed away at his daughter’s home on February 19, 2015. He is survived by two sisters; Roberta Wilhide, of Waynesboro, PA and Ruth Ann Lopen of North Franklin, CT; his brother Floyd Elrie Wing of Waldorf, MD; his daughter Christina Richardson and her husband Robert Miller, Elk Grove, PA; three grandsons, Fergus, John and Tahbo; a granddaughter Leah and, her husband Jakob, and their three children, Miles, Clementine and Drake; three nephews, Jeffrey, Stephen, Danny; and two nieces, Barbi and Sally Jo. He is predeceased by his wife, Emily Harris-Wing, his sisters Edith and Sally Wing, as well as his son Eric Richardson and Eric’s wife, Dukie Pitso Richardson. Ron was born in 1929 in San Diego, California. As a child he lived in Panama City, Panama; Dubois, PA; and Norwich, CN. He attended the Norwich Free Academy (NFA) in Norwich, where he studied and graduated in fine arts. Through the combination of his natural talent and excellent preparation from NFA, he was offered a scholastic scholarship at Pratt Art Institute in Brooklyn, were he studied art for several years before serving in the U.S. Navy during the Korean War. After three years of Navy service, he returned to Pratt, graduating with a BA in Fine Art in 1954. He lived and worked in New York City for most of the 50’s, where he earned his living as a cartoonist and illustrator. During this time he continued to paint and periodically sell fine art. He left NYC for Red Bank, New Jersey, where he lived for a few years before moving to Columbia County, Pennsylvania in the mid 60’s. As a commercial artist and cartoonist for over 50 years, Mr. Wing’s cartoons and illustrations have been published regularly in such magazines as Business Week, Argosy, Pageant, Coronet, Readers Digest, and The Saturday Evening Post, to name but a few. A popular illustrator of children’s books for Bantam - including many of the Choose Your Own Adventure series - he was also the cartoonist for Larry Wilde’s Ethnic Joke Books. Always extremely productive, Mr. Wing made painting a part of his daily life, continuing to paint up to the last weeks of his life. His love of nature, the mystery of life and death, and other allegorical themes have been captured in the mediums of oil, watercolor, pastel, pencil, charcoal and etchings. Mr. Wing exhibited his fine art at the National Academy in New York and various galleries in New York City and state, New Jersey, Connecticut, Pennsylvania and Washington, DC. His work is in the Slater Memorial Museum’s permanent collection in Norwich, Connecticut and is part of many private collections both nationally and internationally. The annual September art show, started in the early ‘90s and held at his rustic gallery in the West Creek Mill, Benton, PA, will be not be forgotten. Ron’s humor, his great generosity to family, colleagues, friends and even strangers will be greatly missed, for he tenderly perceived the human condition--pathos to exultation, banality to originality--as wonderfully varied, funny, and most of all, endearing and poignant. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Norwich Free Academy Foundation, Inc., 321 Broadway, Norwich, CT 06360. Please specify “Ronald Wing, Art Scholarship.” One can hardly think of Ron without a humorous or touching story coming to mind. Those who wish to share their remembrances may gather Sunday, March 1st, 2015 from 2:00 to 4:00 PM at the McMichael Funeral Home, Inc., 4394 Red Rock Road, Benton. (S. R. 487).