Ronald Timothy Church

Ronald Timothy Church  was born Oct. 3, 1947, in Panama City, FL. He passed away July 8, 2023, due to heart failure.  Tim graduated from Rutherford High School in 1965. He attended Gulf Coast Jr College and received a BS degree in Electrical engineering from NYU in 1969. Tim had a successful career in telecommunications and loved his work. Tim was employed by Stromberg Carlson in Lake Mary, FL., where he eventually began his career in management.

He and Joy married in 1984 and moved to Plano, Tx, where he worked for Alcatel USA. They lived in Plano for 20 years.  While there, Tim and a Joy  became active members of Plano Mended Hearts, visiting cardiac patients in the hospital to lend support. A great job opportunity presented itself in 2003, a chance to work for Calix. He was happy with his job, church, friends, and living in the wine country with its beautiful weather. We had planned to stay here. Tim retired in 2017 to play golf, travel and enjoy life…and that he did! Tim is survived by wife, Joy Church, of almost 39 yrs;  Son, Kevin Church and granddaughter, Graycie, of Port St, Lucie, FL; daughter,Tracy Church, her husband Dominic Mancini and granddaughter Lily Mancini of Silver Spring, MD. Brother, Bobby Church and wife Wanda of Panama City , FL.

Stepsons, Lee Higginbotham,, wife Brandy and grandson, John,  of Lubbock, TX. and David Higginbotham of Santa Rosa, CA. Tim was an active member of Petaluma Valley Baptist church, where he participated in Bible studies, men’s groups and various service activities. Near and dear to his heart were the Joshua bags for the homeless, and the trips to Mexico to build houses. We were privileged to accompany a group of our church members to Israel.   Tim always maintained that of all our trips, this was his favorite. He belonged to Petaluma SIRS Branch 147, where was this year’s Big SIR. Tim was a Mentor for Mentor Me for many years until his young man graduated from High school, but continued to stay in contact. Tim had lots of friends around the country through school, work, church, golf,  travels and wine clubs. You could recognize him by his hat and big smile, he will be dearly missed. A Celebration of Life will be held on Aug. 5 @ 11:00 AM at Petaluma Valley Baptist Church. Friends and family are cordially invited to join us for the service and reception to follow in the Fellowship Hall. In lieu of flowers, Tim requested donations to be made in his memory to: Petaluma Valley Baptist Church 580 Sonoma Mountain Parkway Petaluma, CA 94954