Ronald Delaney was born January 17, 1930 in Akron, Ohio. He was the first child born to Earl and Eva Delaney. Ronald was the oldest of eight siblings, 2 boys and 6 girls. Ronald enjoyed spending time with his grandparents, Rosa and Daniel Graves in Bentleyville, Pennsylvania as a child and young man.
Finding a first love in the sport of football at a very early age he then quickly learned of a passion for boxing which would help sculpt him into the man we all knew and loved deeply. He began boxing in the amateur programs at the age of 15. He continued to focus on his craft in boxing until he turned pro. He had his first pro fight in 1948. His boxing career lasted for 18 years with 69 fights. He won 63 fights, lost 3 and had 3 draws. He was a southpaw fighter that was considered one of Akron’s first great fighters of that era. “Ronnie” fought many great named fighters throughout his career. He had a comeback after 7 years of retirement to win his last 4 fights retiring a second time in 1966. During his boxing career, Ronald met Betty Jane “Patty” Smith in 1950 and within that union he had 5 children; 4 sons and 1 daughter.
Ronald worked for Summit County Engineers, First National Bank and Papa Joes (Joe Iacomini who was a father figure to Ronald). He also had his own tree service company and was his own businessman. Ronald was a true hustler by any means and a good provider for his family making sure food was always on the table, bills always paid and a roof over his family’s head. Ronnie had a passion for painting, creating and playing board games, listening to classical music, fishing, scrapping metal, chopping wood and cutting trees.
Ronald accomplished a lot in his 90 years and touched many of lives. Throughout his last days, Ronnie’s most brutal fight was known as dementia. Slowly, dementia took out the former Akron fighter having battled with it for many years. With the help of his daughter, Raeti Delaney Taylor and Falls Village Nursing and Rehabilitation, Ronald was able to comfortably fight this battle with dementia. Five months prior to the champ being defeated, his daughter Raeti passed. The fight for Ronnie had slowly come to an end after losing his caretaker and only daughter. Falls Village stepped back in and helped with this transition making Ronnie comfortable to see his way into Heaven.
On October 5, 2020, God called “The Champ” Ronald “Ronnie” Norman Delaney home peacefully. Ronnie was a lifelong resident of Akron and graduated from West High school in 1948. He was preceeded in death by his parents Earl and Eva Delaney; wife “Patty” Betty Jane Delaney; son, Danny Delaney; daughter, Raeti Delaney Taylor; brother, Richard Leland Delaney; sisters, Lillian Garcia , Linda Peoples and Carol Newsome. He leaves to cherish his memories sons, Michael (Tangi); Timothy Delaney; Roland Delaney; Special son, Kem Delaney; sisters, Grace Delaney Hicks, Dell Elaine Williams and Rosa Margaret (Bill) Foshe and a host of grandchildren, great grandchildren, nieces and nephews.
The entire Delaney family would like to thank Falls Village for the care and support of our Patriarch, Ronald Norman Delaney. “Ronnie” and all his sayings, phrases and his humorous personality will be greatly missed.