Ron Palmer one of my best friends and a co-developer of the Hands-Free Puppets died April 9, 2009. What follows is a history of the thread when he had a heart attack.
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April 4th

Ron, our animatronics engineer had a heart attack Thursday evening and he had 100% blockage when they did surgery and put in heart stints. He was stabilizing but still had pain yesterday so they went in again and discovered it was 100% blocked again so they did a second surgery on him last night.

Ron only has one lung from surviving cancer so his system is compromised to begin with. Please pray for him that his lung and heart will be able to pump the fluid out today. I will be visiting with him soon and will let him know that many around the world are praying for him. Please post your well wishes to Ron here in this thread. He will love to read this when he gets out!

Thanks.

Ax

HI Ron,

Although we've never met, I had a chance to see your work up close in Steve's workshop. Truly amazing. I hope you're feeling better soon. Take care of yourself...

Ken

Ron, I pray the healing hands of our Heavenly Father will strengthen you as He takes you into His loving embrace and gives you the strength for many more years. The prayers of your forum family are with you.

Ron,

We spoke over the phone at I-Fest. I am praying for you! Get well soon! I pray that you will feel better than ever once you've recovered.

-Tony Borders

Ron,

The good folks at Abundant Life Christian Fellowship in NY are praying for your recovery and the strength you need along the way.

Steve P

Ron, I would like you to know we will be raising you up in our prayers for a complete healing at our next prayer group in NSW, Australia. We get an enormous amount of prayers answered!
Yours in Christ,
Terry

Hi Ron
I know that with all the wonderful friends you have there and our well wishes here and around the globe you have no other recourse but to recover 100%. Besides Ax needs your assist right away, so stop laying around that bed lets get up and get going...Ron our prayers and thoughts go out to you..
N J

Suzi and I were able to peek into Ron's room today from a distance for the first time. He was asleep and the room was dark. He had tubes going in an out of him everywhere. He's on a lot of sedation right now. He'll have a tube in his lung for a few more days. We prayed for him in the hospital chapel which was very near his room. Hopefully we can visit again Thursday or Friday in a few days.... they want him to totally rest and recover right now. Keep praying that Ron will be strong. If anyone can survive this, Ron can! Ax

Our prayers are with you. Here's praying for a quick and complete recovery.



John

I talked to Nancy his wife who told me he's slowly improving and today they took out his heart pump! His heart is pumping strong on it's own! So he now has a "hands-free" heart! GO RON!!!

Now the fight is to clear his lung of fluid build up. Continue to pray that his lung will begin to clear the fluid and he will not get pneumonia or infection.

Ax

Our Prayers continue with you Ron in your hours of recovery and I know that your strength will continue to improve, especially with all the wonderful people around you who will help you along.
N J

Still praying for you, Ron. I'm sorry you have to go through this time. Don't be afraid to ask visitors to do something nice for you. It means a lot to them. Get you a magazine, read to you, bring in food other than hospital food.

Ron's brother in law Dan told me last night that Ron gave him a "thumbs up" even though he was pretty out of it and couldn't talk because of the ventilator in his mouth. It's still very critical and they are only allowing immediate family to visit so I won't be able to see him until he's moved out of ICU into a regular hospital room, but it sounds like he's making daily improvements!

Ax

I have very sad news. My friend and engineer Ron Palmer passed on today. He did not make it. I'm in shock right now...the loss is far more than an inventive engineer...he was an inspiration and a very close friend. We will continue the product line as he would have wanted but we will have an adjustment period of course. I will post more about the funeral or where to send a card to his family. That's all I know right now... I'm just stunned.

Ax

My condolences and prayers for you and Ron's family. We had many a long and interesting chat in the chat room and shared a lot of ideas. He is definitely going to be missed. I pray he is at peace and that you and his family will find peace and comfort in the days to come.

I'm so sorry to hear that Ron has passed on. Axtell Expressions and his family will be in my prayers.

Shari

My condolences to the family of Ron...

Steve,

So very sorry to hear about Ron. My condolences to his family and to those who he worked with. A sad day.

Steve P

I had met Ron several times back when he was here in Texas involved with SWARC. I knew he was an excellent robot builder and had built some pretty amazing things. Now as I look back through the stories of what projects he has been involved in over the years I feel foolish for not having gotten to know him better or keeping in touch when he went back California.

We'll miss you Ron.

A guy doesn't have many good friends. It's a deep loss.Ron

Steve,
So sorry to hear of the loss of your dear friend Ron. Words alone are not enough to express the depth of feelings at
times like this.
My condolences to his family.

Ax
He is now in a better place, we could have been gready and begged for him to stay longer but the good lord thought it was time to bring him home and so did. I know Ax that you will surely miss a great friend and our thoughts are now with you in this hour of heartship. May he rest in piece and may your hurting heart soon be healed.
N J

Steve, I am so sorry to hear of Ron's passing. I know that you must be totally numb with grief. The few times I talked with him, he spoke very highly of your and his friendship. I know he felt very proud of his work with you and was excited about the entire line. Our conversations were mostly in regards to his "jet car", but his heart was with Axtell. I am truly sorry for the loss to his family and to his extended Axtell family.
mark

We are saddened to hear of the loss of such a nice talented man. Words can't express the hurt you are all feeling, but know our Best Friend, Jesus Christ is beside us with His arms around us, giving us a hug.
Best always,
Terry and Judy

Ron's memorial service was awesome. It really honored him. Several of us talked. We had two Toucans and a Chimp there on display (on auto-alive) along with some of his RC planes that he flew. It was sad but also a celebration of Ron's exciting life and now he is with his Savior in heaven.

I'd like to be there too with him, but my time will come soon enough.

We'll miss you Ron.

Ax

AX Yes it would be a wonder to be in the Glory of Heaven with those you love, but there are many here on earth who still want you and need you...Your work here has still got some time to go, so don't be in any hurry to leave us yet...Even though you miss those who have passed, you still have family and friends and new friends and friends yet to be.
N J

Although this is titled "A Clown's Prayer" I think it applies here.

As I stumble through this life,
help me to create more laughter than tears,
dispense more cheer than gloom,
spread more cheer than despair.

Never let me become so indifferent,
that I will fail to see the wonders in the eyes of a child,
or the twinkle in the eyes of the aged.

Never let me forget that my total effort is to cheer people,
make them happy, and forget momentarily,
All of the unpleasantness in their lives.

And in my final moment,
may I hear You whisper:
When you made My people smile,
you made me smile."

Thanks for sharing the Clown's Prayer. It was a blessing to read, then to read again, and then to visit a third time later in the day.

I'm sure that Ron's life brought joy to many people, and his creations and memory will continue to do so.

Steve,

We are very sorry to hear that Ron passed. We had been praying for him.

We will continue to pray for you and his family.

Thanks for all you do!

The Scott's

I needed a good laugh and I just ran across an email Ron sent me with some photos. Ron loved the concept of the "Trunk Monkey". I'm sure you've seen all the Youtube videos... here is one...



Here is the photo Ron emailed me of his new Saab car. He had made a trunk monkey sticker for the dash board and posed the magic chimp in the access door! Ha!

Hang on, gotta clean the coffee of the computer screen ! I always loved this, and I haven't seen it in awhile. Isn't it great Ron is still making us smile ? Thanks, Ron, and thanks Steve for sharing this. There was only one, and will only ever be one Ron Palmer....