In it for the long haul – Jen Brien

by Jen Brien

Image of Ron St. Pierre, top: Charlie Hall, charliehallart.com

I’ve been wondering this past week what the hell I should say here. It’s been rough. I can’t lie. My friend said to me last Saturday, “WOW, sis… you look like hell”. Ya, well, it’s a lot. A LOT. So, here are my thoughts on Ron’s sudden passing – take it or leave it.

I knew Ron for 24+ years and we went through all the things people go through in life. Good times, crappy times, fun times, ROUGH, ROUGH TIMES… void times where we were both doing our own thing and kind of lost track of each other for a while…

We both had “dust ups” with one another, made each other sad,  and also had crazy, fun, LOL times and memories. Sounds like all the typical stuff friends and family deal with. My Christian friends call that “seasons”. They say you go through seasons with people and not everyone stays… some go, and God puts certain people in our lives at certain times to help us grow.  Well Ron stuck around. He was in it for the long haul.

Ron and I had a lot of seasons for sure. He was my friend, my boss, my punching bag, my wise sage, my extended family, my critic, my counselor, my on-air partner. He had been in my life since I left the service to pursue a college education. That’s a LONG TIME.  We used to joke about how we would die and when, whenever we talked about company “DEAD POOLS”. He always worried about the BIG “C” (cancer) and I said, “knowing me,  I’ll end up getting hit by a bus full of clowns”. Some kind of stupid death… for sure. We would laugh, and that would be that, and we would see each other again during the week and text a million times in-between… until… he stopped texting. One day – he just stopped texting, and his wife called me later that night and I will never forget that conversation. Ever. He just left. Just “checked out” as he would say.  

So here’s what I want to convey this week after having that time to digest this. Ron was a loyal friend. A GOOD friend to me that I, at many times, probably didn’t deserve. He was temperamental and definitely could be cranky, but deep inside he was just like the rest of us. Wanting to do good things, wanting respect and validation. A want to help those who reached out a hand, and without a doubt wanted to give the best of his gifts the best he could, even when life was exhausting him. We don’t have many good friends in this life. Most of us can count on one hand those “ride or die” friends. My dad used to say, “if you have 2 good friends you’re lucky… if you have 3, you’re BLESSED”. Well, I had Ron. So I feel blessed.

He was as fun and crazy and as imperfect as they come. He actually thought he was “cool” – (hahahaha… we discussed that in our very last podcast). He was talented and brave (he was in a damn dance contest… that’s BRAVE! Which he won by the way… he would have wanted me to ADD THAT), and he gave me the support I longed for when everyone else had thrown in the towel. He helped me believe in myself when I had nothing left.

Look, Ron was no angel. None of us are. But for 25 years God used him in my life and God gave me gifts through Ron no one else could have. He was the best friend I will ever have. In these times, I believe with everything I am the things that God tells us:

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding”. Proverbs 3:5-6

I am clinging to that message with all my might. You will be missed, Ronzo. More than words could ever express. Rest in Peace.

Jen

P.S this weekend on 920whjj.com we have a special tribute show to Ron that will air from 7-8am. I hope you get a chance to listen.

Information on Ron’s services:

https://www.hillfuneralhome.com/obituary/ronald-st-pierre

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Jen Brien has over 20 years of radio broadcast experience having hosted shows on WPRO and WHJJ with Ron as well as her own shows on WRKO and WBZ in Boston, WXTK on Cape Cod and WHAM in Rochester, New York. Jen was born and raised in Woonsocket and served six years in the Army MP Canine Unit.