Fredric Ronald "Ron" Sawyer, 87, Bunkie native

Fredric Ronald "Ron" Sawyer, 87, passed away at Tidal Health Medical Center in Salisbury, MD on January 29, 2024 of complications resulting from a heart procedure. Ron was born on May 13, 1936 at home in Bunkie, LA to the late Marvin D. "Shorty" and Bessie Blankenship Sawyer. He was the second of five children and the only son.
In his youth, Ron travelled with his family between Bunkie and Lake View, Iowa each summer for the family bee business. While in Iowa, Ron learned how to play baseball and he did it very well. Much to his mother's chagrin after high school graduation in 1954, Ron attended tryout camps for the St Louis Cardinals and the Chicago Cubs. Her sights were set on a college education for her son and after not making the cut in the Pros he too turned his eyes to further education. Ron graduated from Southwestern Louisiana Institute Lafayette, LA (now University of Louisiana-Lafayette) with a degree in Chemical Engineering and on September 18, 1960 stepped off the bus at T's Corner in Temperanceville, VA to start his new job at NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility.
This was the dawn of the space age and as the only Chemical Engineer at Wallops at the time, Ron was asked to help form a new organization to focus on Safety. This happened within a few months of his arrival at Wallops and Ron dedicated the rest of his 37-year career to the field of Safety at Wallops. He was widely known throughout NASA for his expertise and he was immensely proud of the work he and his team did to keep the men and women of NASA safe. He established the first quantitative chemistry lab at Wallops as NASA began to work with liquid propellants and other hazardous chemicals. Ron was involved in many NASA projects throughout his career for which he would often tell stories of the “good ole days”. Among these were the 1970 Solar Eclipse Campaign in which they launched 34 rockets in 3 days at Wallops with 11 of them in a 5-minute period. And yet another was working with the Italian Space Agency to help safely launch Scout Vehicles from a converted Texas oil platform off the coast of Malindi, Kenya in the mid 70’s. Even with all the projects Ron had a hand in, there is no doubt that his largest contribution to NASA was building a Range Safety Program, from the ground up, that is staffed with a team of dedicated safety professionals that remains to this day. In June 1990 Ron was awarded the NASA Exceptional Service Award which is one of NASA’s top awards in recognition of his contributions to the Safety of Rocket, Balloon, and Aeronautical Programs and his dedication to improving Safety in operations. Ron often said that "NASA was good to the Boy from Bunkie - I got to see the world and meet many exceptional people".
Ron was an avid sportsman and enjoyed an excellent reputation on the golf course. He never forgot anything and always had the answers to trivia questions much to the other players disappointment especially at Lakeside at Mallard's Landing,
Ron was very proud of his family and would brag about each one to everyone he met. He is survived by his daughters Peggy (Wayne) and Kelly (Charlie); grandsons Travis, Sawyer, Paul, and Joel; great-grandchildren Turner, Noah, Hailee, Ariah, Reed, and Riley; and great-great-granddaughter Delilah. Ron is also survived by Sister Linda (Dean); numerous nieces and nephews; and life-long best friend Don Fletcher. He was preceded in death by his parents; his wife, Nancy; sisters Peggy (Lawrence), Carmen, Enid (Bill); and very special friend Avis Williams. Since Ron lived so far from home, he made Nancy's family his own, he is survived by brothers-in-law Butch (Mary Paul) and Ronnie (Claudia) and numerous nieces and nephews. He was predeceased by Father and Mother-in-law George and Peggy Harmon; brothers and sisters-in-law Walker (Jacquie), Margaret Ann (Quentin), Mary Rose (Bill), and Donna (David); and niece Nancy-Jo.
Services will be held at Holloway Funeral Home in Pocomoke City, MD on Thursday February 8 at 2:00pm with visitation starting at 1:00pm. Interment will follow at First Baptist Cemetery in Pocomoke City. In lieu of flowers, donations may be sent to Lynnhaven Baptist Church in Pocomoke City or to the charity of your choice.