Ronald Blin Coleman II

Ronald Blin Coleman II, beloved son, brother, and friend, passed away early on Monday morning, December 30th, 2024, at the Copper Ridge Health and Rehab Center after an extended battle with cancer. Born in Butte, Montana on December 24th, 1985, Ronald came into this world seven weeks early via an emergency cesarean section. As a premature baby, Ronald struggled with health issues that would continue throughout his life. Ronald’s dad was in the Navy and Ronald and family would move to wherever his dad was stationed. This included moving to Japan when Ronald was seven years old; a move that would have quite an impact on Ronald. Ronald loved Japan and its culture, language, and art. Ronald learned Origami and would surprise his family with his latest artistic creations. Ronald also began to learn about computers and creating art on the family’s home computer, a 286 (mb) computer that he would crash regularly due to the size of his art files. Ronald learned to read music and to play the piano on his own, demonstrating at an early age his ability as an autodidact that would continue throughout the rest of his life. Ronald, with his brother David, became involved with the Yokosuka Little Theatre Group and would perform in various plays with other children. Ronald was involved in various youth sports in Japan but particularly enjoyed his martial arts classes that he took with his brother David. When the family left Japan, they spent 10 days in Honolulu Hawaii. Ronald loved the beach and the ocean and decided he wanted to live there as a beach boy for the rest of his life. After the family returned to the states, Ronald started learning to play the trumpet and guitar. When his dad retired from the Navy, Ronald returned to Butte with his family and attended East Junior High School and then Butte High School where he graduated with the Class of 2004. Ronald was a member of the Orphan Girl Children’s Theatre and learned much from director Mark Tenniswood. Ronald found he enjoyed building the sets and working as a stagehand more than being on stage. This led to his working for a time with the Mother Lode Theatre as a stagehand while he was in high school. After high school, Ronald attended a semester of college at Montana Tech. Ronald had a natural gift for numbers and enjoyed making spreadsheets and using algorithms to solve problems which helped him to master the Rubik’s Cube. Ronald was diagnosed as autistic, which came as a relief to Ronald as it explained his behaviors and attitudes for which he had been misunderstood and misdiagnosed all his life to that point. Ronald received help from the staff at the Western Montana Mental Health Services and greatly appreciated his PAC team led by Miles Finlen. Ronald said he really trusted Miles and his team and was so grateful for all they did for him. Ronald worked for a time developing web sites and writing code. Ronald then went through some other jobs until he was hired to be a night auditor for a local motel. Ronald’s gift for algorithms and his understanding of spreadsheets led Ronald to develop a better method for auditing than the motel was then using. The motel adopted Ronald’s method and Ronald stayed there for three years before moving to be the night auditor for a motel in Rocker where he worked for about a year. Ronald enjoyed spending time with family and being outdoors, camping, fishing, or hunting. Ronald was an avid air-softer and was part of a group that went out often and participated in air soft competitions in the Pacific Northwest. Ronald made some lifelong friends through air softing. Ronald loved to shoot darts and shot with various teams and made good friends in the process. Ronald enjoyed shooting darts with his nephew, Joshua Hannifin. Ronald enjoyed shooting a game of pool. Whatever Ronald did, he did it with great concentration and focus. Ronald learned to speak Japanese, Russian, Romanian, Faroese, Mandarin Chinese, German, and Tagalog, so that he could communicate with his friends in various parts of the world. Ronald’s friend Mari, who lives in the Philippines, drew a beautiful portrait of Ronald which he kept framed in his living room. Ronald wrote beautiful music and occasionally he would go to where his dad was performing on the piano and fill in for him while he was on a break between sets. Audiences loved the fresh approach of his compositions and the sensitivity with which he played. Ronald was very proud of the house he built through Habitat for Humanity. Ronald was a master with the Rubik’s Cube and could solve any cube in less than 20 seconds. His personal best was just under 15 seconds. Ronald ran a Facebook page for Rubik’s Cuber’s that had 16,000 followers internationally. Ronald loved to teach others how to solve the Rubik’s Cube. Ronald was a great swimmer and became a lifeguard and water safety instructor like his parents. Ronald loved to teach children to swim and would be so proud of his students when they perfected a stroke or a method of floating. Ronald enjoyed playing video games with others and liked following some professional gamers on Twitch. One of these gamers, a retired Sheriff, had a German shepherd named Batman that needed an expensive operation. Ronald contributed to this cause and followed Batman’s progress with great interest. Batman made a full recovery, and the Sheriff was so grateful that he sent a lot of nice gifts to Ronald as a means of thanks. This was a very proud accomplishment for Ronald as he was able to help someone else. Ronald received his diagnosis of stage four kidney and brain cancer in November of 2022. Initially his prognosis was he would live for about 12 months. Ronald was so proud that he lived for over two years after that initial diagnosis. Ronald spent much of 2023 travelling with his dad to the Billings Clinic where he underwent two surgeries to remove tumors in his brain as well as other procedures at the Billings Clinic. Eventually Ronald had to have one kidney removed. Ronald received care at the Cancer Center at St. James in Butte and was so grateful to the staff that treated him there for their kindnesses and professionalism. Ronald received a lot of care and assistance from his family throughout these two years. Ronald wanted to make one last trip before he would no longer be able to travel. Ronald and his dad drove to visit a close friend of his who lived in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. The trip took them from Montana through Wyoming, Colorado, New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Colorado, Wyoming, and back to Montana. This trip meant a lot to Ronald as he got to see his friend and meet her daughter. After returning home, Ronald had a meeting with his Oncologist and Radiologist who informed Ronald that his disease was progressing faster than the treatment could keep up with. Ronald knew that this day would come as he was told this at the beginning of his treatment. Ronald was then placed in hospice care with Stillwater Hospice. Ronald appreciated all that the staff at Stillwater did for him. Soon, Ronald had to be placed in a 24-hour care facility because he was not able to take care of himself any longer. With the help of Stillwater Hospice, Ronald was placed at the Copper Ridge Health and Rehab Center. Ronald’s one wish was to turn 39 years old. Family and friends celebrated Ronald’s 39th birthday in his room at Copper Ridge on Christmas Eve. It was a tremendous turnout, and Ron would open his eyes and see who came into the room and then close his eyes again. Ronald is survived by his parents, David and Patricia Coleman, his sister LeiLani (Rich), brothers Phil (Ewa) Hannifin, and David Coleman II, and many uncles, aunts, nieces, nephews, and cousins. Cremation has already taken place. A Celebration of Life will be held by the family in the spring of 2025 with a date yet to be determined.

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Ronald Blin Coleman II

December 24, 1985 - December 30, 2024