Ronald R. Brackelsberg passed away Saturday, Dec. 19, 2020, after a short battle with cancer.
Ron was born June 30, 1945, at Upland, Calif., to Clyde and Doris Brackelsberg. The family moved to Lewiston in the early â50s. Ron graduated from Lewiston High School, then the family moved to Orofino. Ron went to welding school and learned the trade by returning to California to work as a welder on submarines at Mare Island Shipyard in Northern California. He joined the U.S. Army in 1968 and qualified in the Airborne and was attached to the 181st Airborne Division. He was regarded very highly by his peers as one of the finest welders both in California, and later in Idaho where he moved to in 1971 and went to work at Dye Machine. Ron married Judy Westberg Jan. 31, 1973. Ron and partner Bob Kaufman bought the business in 1977. He sold his interest in Dye Machine and retired in 2000.