One of Ronald DeRenzis’s greatest joys was cruising around the state in his vintage 1931 Model A Ford. He spent countless hours washing and waxing the classic car because he was a perfectionist — and loved to see people gawk.
“He wanted people to look at it,” friend Bobby DeLong, 63, of Dacula, said. “And he could tell just by listening if anything was loose or needed fixing.”
Maybe that need for spit and polish was a holdover from his days as a sailor on the USS Cowpens in World War II, mixed up in a lot of action in the Pacific. The aircraft carrier took part in operations from Wake Island to Iwo Jima, and was beside the USS Missouri when the Japanese surrendered on that ship in Tokyo Bay.
A long-time member of the Model A Restorers’ Club of Georgia, Mr. DeRenzis died Aug. 16 of mesothelioma, a rare form of cancer associated with exposure to asbestos, which was common on ships. He was 84. Flanigan Funeral Home and Crematory in Buford was in charge of arrangements. A visitation was held Saturday for family and friends.
Mr. DeRenzis was brave right up to the end, even joking just before death, daughter Tina DeRenzis, 54, of Paulding County, said.
“The family was around his bed, and he said, ‘We need to do a lottery,’” she said. “I said, ‘On what?’ And he laughed and said, ‘When I’m going to go. People can pick the time.’”
Mr. DeRenzis, wife Bebe and their three daughters moved to Atlanta from Buffalo, N.Y., in 1973 when he was transferred by Western Electric. He didn’t talk much about the war but doted on his three daughters and three grandchildren, and tried not to miss their activities, which included the Georgia Tech concert band, for which daughter Andrea Strauss, 51, of east Cobb, was director for 16 years.
Ms. DeRenzis, Mrs. Strauss and youngest daughter, Gabrielle Darnell, 48, of Pendergrass, all participated in music or related activities. Mr. DeRenzis also attended concerts of Tara Winds, one of the South’s premier adult symphonic bands.
Next to his family and his car, he loved his cat, Mr. Homer Banks, from Homer in Banks County.
The family’s tradition of performance will carry on, and “we’ll think of him with every note,” Mrs. Strauss said. Her stepson, Justin Strauss, plays trumpet in a Navy band in Seattle.
His last days marked “an unforgettable time of bonding,” daughter Gabrielle says. “It was very important to me to be able to care for and spend time with my father during the last chapter of his life.”
She said one of her dad’s joys was “hanging out” at Bentley’s Antique Auto Service in Maysville, Ga., with owner Benny Bohanan.
Mr. DeLong, a lub member and longtime friend, said the old Fords probably sold for around $500 when new, but now go for up to $40,000.
“He was a terrific guy, and he’s really going to be missed,” DeLong said of Mr. DeRenzis.
Additional survivors are his sons-in-law, John Strauss and Deron Darnell, and a new great-grandson, Rowan DeRenzis.
About the Author
