Ronald R. Berkshire, 85, of Lawrenceville, died Tuesday, December 29, 2009, at his residence. Burial in Lawrenceville City Cemetery.

Mr. Berkshire was born May 2, 1924, in Lawrenceville, the son of Raymond and Gwendolyn (Cockrum) Berkshire. He married Dorothy Jackson in England in 1945. She preceded him in death in 1999. In 2001, he married Jolanta Przygocki in Lawrenceville. She survives.

He grew up on a farm east of Lawrenceville in Sand Ridge. He graduated from Upper Sand Ridge School in 1938 and from Lawrenceville High School in 1942. He entered the Army Air Corps and graduated from pilot training in Spence Field, Ga., in 1944. After transitional training he was sent to the 20th Fighter Group in Kingscliffe, England, where he flew combat missions over Europe in a P-51. At the end of World War II, he was sent to the Army of Occupation in Germany for nine months. He graduated in 1952 from the University of Evansville where he received his bachelor's degree in social studies and received his master's degree in 1967. From 1952-1983, he taught in Junior Onarga Military School, Bement Grade School and Thomas Jefferson High School, and he was a teacher and served as a grade-school principal for 10 years in Claremont. He taught at East Richland High School in Olney for 16 years. He was liaison officer for the United States Air Force Academy in Colorado for five years. He stayed active in the Air Force Reserve and retired with the rank of Major. He was a member of St. Lawrence Catholic Church, Illinois Education Association, Veterans of Foreign Wars, and Elks Lodge.

Mr. Berkshire is survived by his wife, Jolanta Berkshire; sons, Alan Berkshire and his wife, Cathy, of Bridgeport, and Steven Berkshire and his companion, RuRu, of St. Louis, Mo.; daughters, Linda Carter and her husband, Kelly, of Vincennes, Ind., and Diana Wilson, of Olney; stepsons, Peter Przygocki and his wife, Kelly, of Lawrenceville, and David Przygocki, of Lawrenceville; stepdaughter, Monika Jones and her husband, Gary, of Florida; 10 grandchildren; five stepgrandchildren; and nine great-grandchildren.

He was preceded in death by his parents, Raymond and Gwendolyn Berkshire; wife, Dorothy Berkshire; sister, Janey McCray; daughter, Gina Berkshire; and granddaughter, Ashley Major.

Published in Olney Daily Mail (IL)