Pilot worked for decades for Delta

Ronald Wassenberg was born for the heavens.

His father, a career pilot, had taught him to fly before he was old enough for a driver’s license. He was born in 1938 and went to college in Miami before joining the U.S. Air Force.

In the Air Force, he worked as a load master and, when he got out, Leo Wassenberg, his father, encouraged him to earn his wings, said his wife, Linda Wassenberg.

He got his pilot’s license and credential to fly large freight planes. He joined his dad at Zantop Air Transport, which eventually became Zantop International Airlines, and started flying C-46 freighters out of the Arabian peninsula —- and began a lifetime of globe trotting.

“He flew freight over in Yemen,” Mrs. Wassenberg said. “His father hauled freight all over the world. He died in an air crash in South America.”

Mr. Wassenberg, 70, died Tuesday after a struggle with prostate cancer. There will be a mass for him at 11 a.m. today at St. George’s Catholic Church in Newnan. Mrs. Wassenberg said to celebrate her husband’s life in a manner he would have appreciated there will be a party in the church’s fellowship hall after the funeral.

“Food, wine and drinks —- Catholics can do that,” Mrs. Wassenberg said. “He didn’t want tears and all that sadness.”

After a stint with Zantop, Mr. Wassenberg moved to Delta Air Lines in 1962 —- where he stayed for 34 years. Within five years he had risen to the rank of captain. Along the way his first wife, Betty, died in 1980. He married his second wife, Linda, 21 years ago.

He retired from Delta at age 56 but soon learned he was happiest off the ground, Mrs. Wassenberg said.

“He was miserable and so we got on the Internet and found these international airlines,” she said.

He started flying for Orient Thai Airlines in Thailand, which is based in Bangkok and offers passenger service in Southeast Asia. A few years later, he was back to hauling freight for airlines out of England, Belgium and the United Arab Emirates, a country on the Arabian Peninsula where he had started his professional career.

Mrs. Wassenberg said the flying career ensured that the two of them had nearly two decades of travel. She said one room in their house was referred to as the “luggage room” because she always stayed ready to fly out to meet her husband, or he had to unpack on his trips home.

Besides his wife, he is survived by his children and stepchildren: daughters, September (Bob) Eason, Shade (Wiley) Robinson, Melanie (Stilly) McFadden; sons, Sam (Robin) Wassenberg, Todd Kendrick, Scott (Amy) Kendrick; grandchildren, Farh Robinson, Trammel Robinson, Renn Eason, Emey Eason, Anna-Leigh Eason, Nanny McFadden, Elizabeth McFadden, Stillman McFadden, Hollie Wassenberg, Alex Kendrick, MaCrae Kendrick and Kooper Kendrick.