Ronald Joe Walla, 74, of Houston, Texas, unexpectedly passed on August 2, 2022, doing what he loved: watching the squirrels in his backyard, playing with his puppy, texting pictures of aforementioned squirrels and puppy, and texting his Nancy-girl that he loves her.

Survived by his wife, Nancy Walla, brother Terry Walla, three children: Erik and wife Jennifer, Chris and wife Vanessa, Lezlie and partner Scott, and his grandchildren: Megan and Jesse, Bailey and Caleb (who was told by Grandpa Ron that he plans to come back as a dog), and Nova. Also, his bonus children, Tony Pontigo and wife Kelly, Carol Pontigo, and his bonus grandchildren, Taylor and Olivia, Dominick and Isabella.

Preceded in death by wife Denise Walla, his parents, Laura Jo and Jesse Walla, his "extra" parents: Jim & Martha Shackelford and Betty Jenkins, and numerous pets whose memories, even decades later, brought him joy.

Upon arrival to eternity, he was immediately greeted by Alan, Tassie, Elena, Lady, Prissy, Muffin, Puffin, Bub, Molly, Huoban, Squeak, and many others. All have been patiently waiting for him. Dire Straits "Sultans of Swing" blaring on repeat confirms he's made it home.

His children do find that song somewhat traumatizing, thinking back on all of the Saturday mornings he woke them up at 7 am playing it on max volume. But it's not nearly as traumatizing as the memories of their engineer father trying to help them with their math homework.

Ron was raised in Wichita Falls, Texas. He graduated with a mechanical engineering degree from University of Houston (Go Coogs!) and was a proud lifetime alum. A decades long season ticket holder in football & basketball, his family had the privilege of going to see Hakeem & Clyde at Hofheinz and many road trips to the Cotton Bowl in January. Shortly after graduating, he became a full time single dad to his oldest, Erik. Those who knew him in those years, have all told stories about what a great dad he was and how much he loved his oldest son. Over the last couple of years, he still had a special bond with his oldest and talked to him at least once a day.

He loved rebuilding and working on cars, especially muscle cars. Whether it was working on a '73 Firebird with his father and Erik, or convincing the family that he bought an Old's 442 to fix up for his daughter to drive in high school. (Shockingly, his daughter ended up driving a Chevy Blazer in high school instead). Putting on your "grubbies" to work in the garage was one way he loved to spend time with kids. Especially his son, Chris, who learned more about cars from him than the rest of us. He was proud when Chris decided to pursue his education at U of H. They used those years to make more memories there with season tickets to Cougar football.

He spent his life traveling around the world for work and gave his kids the opportunity to live in Australia and Egypt and see a thousand other places in between, including numerous week-long layovers in Hawaii, Thanksgiving in Kenya, and Easter in Cyprus. While in Egypt, he made the mistake of taking his youngest, Lezlie, to ride horses at the pyramids on the weekends. This mistake is one that he literally paid for over the next ten years. Lezlie started riding again when she was 38 and missed the memories, she had of riding growing up. The memory she misses the most: her dad paying. That hobby is expensive.

After the loss of his wife, Denise, he was lucky to find Nancy. She brought him back to a sense of normalcy and ensured that the last 15 years of his life were filled with happiness, laughter, traveling the world together, and even more pets that were treated better than either of them ever treated their own children. (disclaimer: they treated their children pretty great).

We will all miss him retelling the same story over and over and over again, we will miss the daily updates of what the squirrels are doing, we will miss him coming up and putting his arm around us then asking if we know how special we are. We will miss everything he cooked at his infamous BBQs, especially those ribs. We might not miss being interrupted twenty times during a movie so he could ask, "Who is that? What were they in?" But we'll still miss it a little. His daughter, like her dad in so many amazing and obnoxious ways, has continued this tradition and is insufferable to watch movies with.

In lieu of flowers, the family asks for you to send pictures of squirrels to his daughter because she's heartbroken that she will no longer get those from her daddy, to use the phrase 'shitfire' in a sentence once a day, and to make sure you let all of your loved ones know just how special they are, because Ron never let his Nancy-girl or kids forget that.

Ron did not want a funeral or memorial service. His wishes are to be cremated and go over Niagara Falls with his cremated pet collection and his wife, Nancy. But not until decades from now. Because now would make that an awkward situation for Nancy. He also requested that all of his kids, his Nancy-girl, and a handful of friends get together and celebrate, not mourn. Thankfully, all of his family is well skilled at having fun despite any circumstance, AND in spite of any circumstance. Because that is exactly how he lived.

The family thanks you all for all of the messages, cards, calls, and offers of help. The children ask that not now, not a month from now, but a few months from now, as the shock ebbs and wanes, to please take care of his Nancy-girl. Check in on her, tell her the same joke over and over, send her pictures of your pets being adorable, and interrupt while she's trying to watch a movie. And always remind her just how special she was to him. Know what I mean?