Ronald Rae Barrick was born in Emmetsburg, IA, the oldest of five boys. The family moved often during his early childhood, eventually settling in the small, northwest Iowa town of Terril, where the family remained during his junior high and high school years and everyone knew Ron. While he was a good and conscientious student, Ron always had time for extracurricular activities, which centered around organized sports: football, basketball and track. In the summer, playing baseball, he became acquainted with senior members of the local American Legion Post, many of whom would be instrumental in obtaining his congressional appointment to West Point.

The West Point experience brought a lifetime of memories and opportunities that would not otherwise have been. The trip to West Point from a small, rural Iowa community was a dream come true. The reality was a shock, but a shock long forgotten. Only fond memories and camaraderie carried forward for a lifetime.

At West Point, following Beast Barracks, Ron became a member of the Plebe Basketball Team. When he did not make the varsity team as a yearling, he became an enthusiastic participant in intramural sports, including cross-country, track and soccer.

While serving in an armor battalion in Germany prior to First Class year, Ron had his first experience with what it means to be a legal advocate. In those days, junior officers were appointed to represent soldiers charged with violations of Article 15 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice. While accompanying his first lieutenant sponsor on such a mission, Ron was left with an infatuation for military law and the legal profession.

Ron graduated in June 1961, was commissioned a second lieutenant in the United States Air Force, and married his childhood sweetheart, Marolyn, later the same month. Together, they began their Air Force career. A son, Randall, was born in 1963 while Ron was still on active duty, and, later, in 1968, a daughter, Susan, was born, while Ron was in law school. The couple divorced in 1984.

Ron took his commission in the Air Force in anticipation of a flying career. Unable to pass the flight physical due to hearing loss, Ron chose a second career path in engineering. His first duty station was Kessler Air Force Base, MS, where he continued his education at the USAF Technical School, becoming an electronics officer in the field of ground-penetrating radar. At the conclusion of the one-year course, Ron was selected to stay on as an instructor of electronic fundamentals. The experience was rewarding to a young Air Force officer. The students were primarily recent college graduates, newly commissioned, and senior foreign students, which gave him a first opportunity to assess his peers and view firsthand the unsung reach of the U.S. military around the world. The latter group included a class of Sikh Indian officers who exposed him to a new world of foreign customs and culture, creating lifelong friendships. At the conclusion of the Keesler Air Force Base assignment, Ron was assigned to an aircraft control and warning radar site at Romanzof, AK, a remote duty station on the Bering Sea, separated from the coast of Russia by the Bering Strait. While the assignment was remote, the facilities were first class. The site came with a gymnasium, bowling alley and bakery. The gym gave Ron a further opportunity to exercise his basketball skills, making him known on site affectionately as the “terror of the tundra.”

Ron’s next assignment took the family to Colorado Springs, CO and the 9th Aerospace Defense Division, which was responsible for the Ballistic Missile Early Warning System. He worked in the office that monitored early Russian satellite space launches; specifically, Sputnik 1 and similar. The assignment was also a rewarding experience, but recollections of the first-class summer in Germany and his experience with the law lingered, and after nearly five years on active duty, late 1965, Ron resigned his commission and entered law school at Drake University in Des Moines, IA. He graduated in January 1968.

After leaving active duty, he pursued parallel civilian and military career paths until retiring from the Air Force Reserve in 1988. His civilian career focused on the private practice of law and government service, including extended terms as both city (appointed) and county (elected) attorney. His Reserve military career began in the Iowa National Guard (IANG) while still in law school. He held a wide range of junior officer positions, legal and otherwise, culminating in his appointment and service as the state staff judge advocate for the IANG. While serving with the 185th Tactical Fighter Group in Sioux City, IA, Ron realized one of his most elusive dreams. He joined the Aero Club and became a private pilot, an ambition that had escaped him on active duty. He later became a commercial pilot with an instrument rating. The new accomplishment served him well in his civilian law practice, on family outings and as a recreational flier.

In 1980, Ron relocated to Texas, transferred to the active Air Force Reserve, and was assigned to headquarters, 12th Air Force, Bergstrom Air Force Base, Austin, TX, where he retired at the rank of colonel in 1988. Ron and his present wife, Marilyn, were married in 2013 after more than 10 years together. Ron continued in the private practice of law in the Austin area, where he remained until his death.