Ron Goddard

 Ronald L Goddard

September 16, 1951 - May 20, 2021

Ron and Kathleen Goddard family

Ron and Kathleen brought some horses to our grandson Isaac’s birthday party October 26, 2019

Many boys grow up wanting to become cowboys. We played games and pretended to ride our horses out on the range. When our family moved to Sebring, Florida from Philadelphia in 1963 we had never met a real cowboy. One of my brothers came home one day very excited to tell our parents that we lived on the same street as  a cowboy! They were pretty skeptical but discovered we really did! Few people realize that Florida has the longest history of cattle ranching in the United States, dating back to the days of the Spanish explorers who brought them along with horses. Ponce de Leon came in 1521 and Moldanado in 1540 with Andalusian cattle that escaped and survived in the wild. 

Our church has had many people over the years. Around 2018 we had the blessing of Ron and Kathleen Goddard joining us in worship. Ron was a real cattleman. He was a blessing to us and we were also privileged to have him welcome us to one of their annual brandings. Ron managed the 31,000 acre Blue Head Ranch in Venus, Florida in the south of Highlands County. They raise what is as close as possible to the original ‘cracker’ cattle, an exclusively grass fed beef operation  utilizing a planned grazing pattern that mimics the migratory activity of wild ungulates. Blue Head Ranch never uses herbicides, pesticides, chemical fertilizers or grain-based supplemental feeds, so it’s as organic as it gets. Ron was deeply impressed by the Allan Savory’s holistic management (HM) approach that seeks to rebuild soil and mimic the movement of animals in a natural environment. Ron worked for many years with various ranches out west before coming to Central Florida. He was highly respected in his field.

Not only was it our privilege to worship together and visit, but when Ron went to heaven it was my privilege to be asked to preach his memorial message. What a blessing to be a small part of the amazing work of God’s grace in Ron Goddard’s life. The obituary below is followed by my notes from his service.

http://fieldguide.capitalinstitute.org/ron-goddard.html

Branding day, November 2018

Ronald L. Goddard, 69, went home to be with the Lord Jesus Christ on Thursday, May 20, 2021 at his home near Lake Placid, surrounded by his loving family. Ron was born September 16, 1951 in Morland, Kansas, to Janice (Born) and William Goddard. He left Kansas at 16 years old and for the next 50+ years cowboyed and ranched in 19 different states. He settled the longest in Montana, where he and Kathleen raised their three children. Ron had been a resident of Lake Placid since 2015, when he, his wife, and his sons moved here from Montana to manage the Bluehead Ranch. He was a rancher, land manager, horseman, and very fine cowboy, but he was before all of these a servant of the Lord Jesus, Who saved him to the praise of His glorious grace in 1984. He and Kathleen attended Highlands Grace Reformed Church while they lived in Florida. Ron was a voracious reader, a great writer of letters, and a treasure trove of historical and political knowledge. He was cracklingly witty, unendingly hospitable, and singularly kind. His children and later his grandchildren spent many delighted hours riding, roping, fishing, camping, hunting and working with him—he was never too busy to include them in whatever he was doing. Ron was preceded in death by his parents and older brother Rick Goddard. He is survived by the love of his life of 36 years, Kathleen; daughter Jolee Holmquist (Kelly); sons Jason (Tiffany) and Jacob (Loni); nine grandchildren, a granddaughter-in-law, and a great grandbaby on the way; two sisters Becky Ellis and Sonya Cap; sisters, brothers, and mother-in-law; aunts; uncles; cousins; nieces; nephews; and countless friends and neighbors, all of whom he treated as graciously as his own family, which was graciously indeed. “The Lord is my chosen portion and my cup; you hold my lot. The lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; indeed, I have a beautiful inheritance.” Psalm 16:5-6 A gathering for family and friends to celebrate Ron’s life will be held Thursday May 27th at 1 pm at First Presbyterian Church Lake Placid.

Branding day, November 2018

February 2019 with pastor Jim Handyside of Glasgow, Scotland at Highlands Grace Reformed Church in Sebring.

Here are my notes from the memorial service at First Presbyterian Church in Lake Placid, FL.

RON GODDARD

To heaven May 20, 2021

[Welcome and pray]

Job 1:21 Our purpose today is to bless God in true, spiritual worship and to honor the memory of Ron Goddard. We begin by singing a hymn of praise.

The Bible says God honors those who honor him. 1 Samuel 2:30 Ron was a God honoring man of faith. He knew God and walked in His ways. 

Ron was my brother in Christ, a friend in Jesus who spent his last years worshiping God with us at Highlands Grace Reformed Church in Sebring. He had a keen desire to know God and was a serious student of the Word of God, a genuine man of faith and prayer, a disciple of Jesus Christ who served the Lord faithfully. He loved God because he was saved by his grace from sin and darkness. Ron had spiritual joy in Jesus. He smiled with his whole face.

Ron was born and raised in Kansas. God graciously gave him a family to grow up in that exposed him to the Word of God. As a young person Ron knew Scripture but turned away to follow his own sinful ways. Like a sheep that wanders off on its own like the rest of us he was only allowed to stray so long before the Lord intervened in his grace. Before their wedding in January 1985 the Lord saved Ron and Kathleen by his amazing grace. In 1988 they were baptized publicly confessing their faith in our Lord Jesus Christ’s death, burial and resurrection.

Ron and Kathleen faced and fought his cancer together. We all joined in prayer and trusted God with his life as they diligently pursued a cure. Ron’s desire was to glorify Jesus Christ. God saw fit to call him home to himself so that where Jesus is, there he will be, exactly as our Lord Jesus prayed in the Upper Room. Ron’s faith was firm. As Job’s trials intensified he clung to gospel hope. He said, ‘I know that my Redeemer liveth.’ He knew that Jesus’ death was his only hope of being right with God and entering heaven. As D. L. Moody said, ‘Someday you will read or hear that D. L. Moody is dead. Don’t you believe a word of it. At that moment I shall be more alive than I am now. I shall have gone up higher, that is all; out of this old clay tenement into a house that is immortal – a body that death cannot touch; that sin cannot taint; a body fashioned like unto His glorious body.’ 

This year Ron and Kathleen joined Highlands Grace Reformed Church. In signing the membership application they stated, ‘I have been saved from my sins by the grace of God alone through faith alone in my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. I haven’t deserved my salvation in any way- it is entirely by God’s grace in Christ.’ 

[Psalm 23:6 God’s goodness and mercy to Ron] 

Man looks on the outward appearance, God looks at the heart. Signature mustache, hat, suspenders, smile, firm handshake.

• WIFE, FAMILY & FRIENDS

God blessed Ron with the love of his life Kathleen and with their family – committed in covenant (married Jan. 25, 1985); with Jesus Christ as head of their home. Loves children – grandchildren took to him. We’ll never forget our grandson Isaac’s birthday when they brought horses to give the kids rides. The statement was made about Ron’s worn out body, ‘this body served us (our family) well.’ Ron poured out his love on his family and led them in the way of the Lord. Their home is filled with God’s love. They were able to tell him and show him how much they loved him before he died and went to heaven. The last visit we had with Ron he sat on the hard wooden pew in their living room and I told him and Kathleen, ‘we love you guys’. God’s children are known by our love.

The family told me he had no favorite verse, color, or hymn (Blessed Assurance). But he and Kathleen had a favorite letter of the alphabet – ‘J’. All their children have J names. And their Savior’s name is Jesus Christ.

Authentic

Adventurous

Humble and wise – James 3:17

Respected and respectful; mentor

Friendly, kind, hospitable and generous; never forget being at the branding in 2018. 

Enjoyed cowboy poetry (‘Purt Near Perkins’); music – Charlie Daniels, Job 19:25-26. 

• VOCATION – CATTLE RANCHING

Loved the outdoors and was blessed to work his entire career outside; cattleman; rodeo. Told us about Beartooth Highway in Wyoming and MT when we traveled west. The beauty and majesty of God’s creation was very special to him.

Respects the earth without worshiping it; believed God created things wisely and we ought to work with His creation, not against it to keep it as good stewards. Ps. 19

Hard working and skillful – Prov.27:23 ‘Be thou diligent to know the state of thy flocks, and look well to thy herds.’ Knew how to manage a cattle ranch.

Reliable

Inquisitive, intelligent; enjoyed reading books, teachable; quiet; wrote and kept a journal.

Conservative – the old ways, not moving the ancient landmarks; preserving what is valuable.

Innovative – enjoyed challenges and did things that are unconventional (Holistic Management – Allan Savory grazing method).

• SPIRITUAL

Leader and follower – disciple of Jesus.

Knew God his Redeemer – Job 19:25-27; heart for Jesus Christ (weekly Bible study) – Justified – Romans 3:21-26; 4:20-25 Repentance and faith in Jesus Christ.

Church member (paper) – desires to know God in sovereign grace; truth seeker; disciple; learning he was not as strong as he thought he was; favorite hymn, Blessed Assurance.

Loves the Bible and the Lord Jesus. Unashamed of the Gospel – Romans 1:16-18

Lived by faith in Jesus Christ – Job 13:15.

Worshiped God in Spirit and truth; THANKFUL, knowing every good gift came from God.

Ron cared about people and wanted others to know Christ as their Lord and Savior. Servant of God who used what he was and had to serve Jesus as a faithful steward. Loved much because he was forgiven much. A needy sinner saved by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone to the glory of God alone.

Good soldier of Christ who fought the good fight of faith - 2 Timothy 2:1-3; 4:7-8.

God is telling us, ‘Behold the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world.’ Jn. 1:29

Looking to Jesus Christ by faith is the only remedy for your sin, your only hope of eternal life – John 3:14-17. Salvation is entirely by the Lord Jesus Christ. Looking by faith to his finished work on the cross is our only hope. There is heaven to gain and hell to escape. Look to Jesus’ death on the cross as your only hope of acceptance with God. Turn from your sin and seek His mercy and forgiveness while you can. God welcomes all who come to him. Preparing to face the judgment can only be done by abandoning all confidence in your works or performance and relying only on God’s provision of grace in Christ. By his death on the cross he paid the penalty for the sins of all who believe. Look to him and be saved. Commit your life to him. The old evangelist Rolfe Barnard told sinners, ‘Stack arms’, surrender yourself to God now. Deny yourself, take up your cross and follow Jesus.

Ron’s legacy lives on. He is more alive now than ever before in eternal glory through God’s wonderful grace in Jesus Christ. His life points us to Christ. We join in giving God all the glory for him and the hope we have in Jesus Christ by grace. Ron inherited the infinite riches secured by Jesus’ death, burial and resurrection. The lines have fallen for him in pleasant places, even in heavenly splendor and eternal glory with our Lord Jesus Christ.

Please join in singing one more hymn.

This concludes the service today. 

The family invites all who want to come to join them at the Blue Head Ranch afterward.

The Blue Head stretches across 31,300 acres of interior peninsular Florida, and Grasslands has been at the helm since November of 2014. The landscape sports a wild mosaic of natural wetlands and marshes, richly diverse, native palmetto prairies, longleaf and slash pine forest, cabbage palm and live oak hammocks, and subtropical planted pastures dominated by bahia and hermarthria grass. Wily and diminutive Florida whitetails, feral hogs, Osceola turkeys, alligators, and gopher tortoises are abundant throughout, in addition to a vast array of other reptiles, birds, amphibians, and fish. The Blue Head supports a fascinating herd of over 7,000 corriente, cracker, and longhorn cattle—descendants of the original Spanish cattle that arrived on Florida’s shores over 500 years ago. These cattle can make a living, with no outside help or supplement, in the humid, hot, buggy, swampy, snake-ridden, mosquito-laden, lightning-stricken, and just plain harsh environment of southern Florida.

Ron's article, 'The Field Guide to a Regenerative Economy' contribution: http://fieldguide.capitalinstitute.org/ron-goddard.html