Ronald Foster Ober

Ronald Foster Ober, age 84, passed away peacefully on Tuesday, March 10, 2026, at Milford Regional Hospital in Milford, Massachusetts, surrounded by his loving family. Born in Framingham, Massachusetts, on April 21, 1941, to the late Albert P. and Catherine A. (Scanlon) Ober, Ron spent his childhood in Franklin before his family settled in Walpole. From an early age he developed a deep love for skating and hockey, playing on Walpole High School’s 1958 New England Championship team and scoring the game-winning goal in the final. He went on to earn a bachelor’s degree in business from Boston University in 1962 and later a Master’s in Business Administration.

In 1962 Ron married Joanne E. Buck at Blessed Sacrament Church in Walpole. The couple began their life together in Morrisonville, New York, where he started his teaching career at Saranac High School, before returning to Massachusetts and settling in Norfolk. Ron taught business courses at Avon, Canton, and King Philip Regional High Schools, where he founded and advised the DECA program in 1971 and later served as Vice Principal. He continued his work in education as a textbook sales representative for Southwestern Publishing and later taught at Plymouth North and South High Schools, the Dedham House of Correction, and the Funeral Institute of the North East in Norwood.

An avid outdoorsman, Ron was a longtime member of the Walpole Sportsman’s Association, Wrentham Angler’s Club, and Holliston Sportsman’s Association. His home was a lively haven for animals of every kind—dogs, ponies, miniature horses, pygmy goats, chickens, parakeets, Bengal cats, rabbits, Vietnamese potbelly pigs, donkeys, and even a cow. He competed with his ponies through the New England Pony Racing Group on tracks across Cape Cod, Nantucket, and Lakeville, and was widely known for training Labrador retrievers for field work, show, and obedience. In later years he found joy in tractor pulling with his Wheel Horse tractors at events in Rehoboth. Ron also maintained a lifelong passion for cars, proudly showing his prize-winning Studebaker, and generously coached youth hockey for the New England Mustangs, Canton High School, and Noble and Greenough School.

Above all, Ron cherished time with his family and friends. He looked forward to daily conversations with his Country Kitchen companions and found his greatest happiness in the company of his wife Joanne, their children, and his beloved granddaughters. He is survived by his wife Joanne E. (Buck) Ober, sons Dr. Timothy R. Ober of Wellington, Florida and Gordonsville, Virginia, Terrance R. Ober and his wife Kristen of Norwood, and Michael A. Ober and his wife Melissa of Bellingham, as well as grandchildren Kelty, Maggie, Vivian, and Torrin. He was the brother of the late Albert Ober Jr., Arlene Donahue, Alberta Heinz, Joseph Ober, Louise Goodman, Dorothy Geehan, John Ober, George Ober, Kathleen Keeney, and Norman Ober, and brother-in-law of Jacqueline Ober and Elinor Ober. He will be remembered with love by many nieces and nephews.