Ronald E. Seavoy passed away at home on March 25, 2020. He was born July 6, 1931 in New York City and was raised by his parents Gordon E. and Catherine in Chicago. He is survived by his brother, Brian Seavoy, and sister, Valerie Davis and several nieces and nephews. He graduated from Morgan Park Academy in 1949. He received his Bachelor of Science degree in Geology in 1953 from the University of Michigan and his Master of Arts (1963) and PhD (1969) in History from Michigan. He served in the U.S. Army from 1953-1955.
He was hired by the Department of History at Bowling Green State University in 1965 where he taught U.S. Constitutional History, U.S. Business History as well as numerous survey courses until his retirement in 1991 as Professor Emeritus. Students spoke fondly of his teaching. From 1958-1959 he was an exchange fellow at Queens University, Belfast, Ireland. After his retirement from B.G.S.U. he was appointed Visiting Professor in the Department of Business Economics and Public Policy at Indiana University, Bloomington where he taught Business History from 1992-1999.
Ron is the author of ten books and nineteen articles on the subjects of American business history, famine in developing countries, political economy, and mining exploration. He wrote a number of encyclopedia articles and numerous book reviews.
Before and while employed as a historian, Ron worked as an exploratory geologist for such companies as Canadian Johns Manville, International Nickel Company, Alcoa, Burwest, Western Nuclear, and Cleveland Cliffs Mining.
Ron traveled widely while doing research on famine, on political economy as well as geological research and consulting. He was in most Latin American countries, Russia, Eastern Europe, Indonesia, the Philippines, China, India, Tanzania, the United Kingdom, Canada and others.
He was a member of the Organization of American Historians, the Society of Economic Geologists, and the Institute of Lake Superior Geology.
Until recently, he enjoyed attending international geological meetings and field trips with fellow geologists and students. In Bowling Green he regularly went to have coffee in the morning with a group at Grounds for Thought coffee house. Almost every week he would gather with friends on Monday nights to have a few beers and chat and usually meet on a Friday night with a small group to have beers and martinis. He enjoyed dinner gatherings with a group of ten to twelve on Memorial Day, July 4th, Labor Day, New Year’s Eve, and on Superbowl Sunday. He genuinely enjoyed watching professional baseball games especially his favorite team, the Chicago Cubs. He liked to attend to his garden.
There will be no visitation or memorial service. Memorials can be made to organizations of the donor’s choice.
Arrangements have been entrusted to Dunn Funeral Home in Bowling Green.
To share an online condolence or fond memory please visit www.dunnfuneralhome.com.
