Ronnie Estes
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Ronnie Estes of Stevensville, Maryland, and Lubec, Maine, passed away on April 2, 2020, at Chesapeake Future Care in Arnold, Maryland, of complications of COVID-19. She was 73.
Ronnie was the only child of Victor and Irene Biezenski. She was born on April 28, 1946, in Stuttgart, Germany, while her parents, Polish nationals displaced by World War II, awaited emigration from Europe. Choosing the United States over Canada and Australia, they came through Ellis Island in December 1947 and made New York City their new home.
Ronnie grew up in the Jackson Heights neighborhood of Queens, and she became a genuine New Yorker who would never fail to note that pizza should be folded, bagels should be boiled, and the best tap water in the world comes from up north in the Catskills. Her parents sent her to summer camp in Maine, where she developed a love for the state's natural beauty and especially for all animals: throughout life she focused her artistic talents on sketches and paintings of horses and her volunteer efforts on supporting rescue shelters for cats and dogs. And she was never without at least one pet, including several cats and her companion German Shepherd, "Wonder Dog".
Ronnie attended high school in Manhattan at the all-girls Dominican Academy. Next, always the adventurer, she chose to enroll at the formerly all-men Clemson University as a member of the first group of women allowed to live on campus. Her love of animals led to a study of veterinary science, but this was thwarted by her developing asthma, a condition that she would battle for the rest of her life. Instead she graduated in 1967 with a Bachelors in English, and continued at Clemson to complete a Masters in English Literature. Along the way she'd make many an eventful trip home to NYC in her VW Beetle with Wonder Dog as copilot. An ever-proud Tiger, she remained a devoted and diligent follower of Clemson athletics (though not as devoted as she was to the Pittsburg Steelers).
After graduation, Ronnie married her college sweetheart, Oscar "Butch" Mills. His military intelligence career brought them to Fort Meade, Maryland, and then for four years to Berlin, Germany. There she discovered her lifelong penchant for German automobiles. They returned to the Washington area and in 1978 bought a home on Maryland's then-rural Kent Island. The house was directly on the Chesapeake Bay, with westward views of the sun setting over Annapolis. After their divorce and throughout her life, Ronnie kept the house, and the area became as beloved to her as the Maine of her childhood.
Ronnie's professional career was spent primarily in the D.C-area "Beltway bandit" contractor community. She used her writing, editing, and publishing skills to develop documents, reports and proposals for Government contracts. She rose to leadership roles and served as Publications Department Manager for several Government-contracting companies. It was while working for NASA-contractor Science Applications Research in 1987 that she met her to-be husband Ron Estes, and they began their new lives together for the next 33 years. Their only child, Eric Michael Estes, was born in 1989.
The family never moved from that Kent Island house, watching as seashell streets were paved and trees were cut down for strip malls and farms were turned into housing developments. Ronnie was always a strong believer in responsible development and in the preservation of Kent Island and the Chesapeake, both environmentally and culturally. She applauded when Walmart abandoned plans for a waterfront, Bay Bridge-adjacent superstore that would've physically marred the "Gateway to the Eastern Shore," and she supported the Chesapeake Bay Foundation in its efforts to keep the Bay clean and full of life.
Ron and Ronnie retired in 2013 from NASA-contractor Science Systems and Applications Inc. and began a new chapter in their lives: spending half the year living in her old stomping grounds of Maine. She designed their dream home, which they soon built in their beloved town of Lubec, the eastern most point in the United States. There they spent the cool summers and beautiful falls visiting with friends new and old, dining on fresh lobster and haddock, and enjoying the town's tranquil harbor and especially its rugged Atlantic coastline. No matter where she was, she always wanted to be near the ocean.
Ronnie is predeceased by her parents, Victor and Irene Biezenski, and is survived by her husband, Ron Estes, and their son, Eric Estes.
A graveside service will be held at the Stevensville Cemetery at a later date.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Chesapeake Cats and Dogs at www.chesapeakecatsanddogs.org/donate/
Online condolences may be made with Fellows, Helfenbein & Newnam Funeral Home at www.fhnfuneralhome.com/obituaries/Romana-Ronnie-Estes/