Ronald (Ronnie) Wayne Callen was born July 3, 1948 in Sidney, MT. He was the only child born to Carrol and Joyce (Paladichuk) Callen.
Ron attended grade school at St Matthew's School in Sidney and high school at Sidney High School, graduating in 1967. In his younger years, he spent summers with family in Great Falls and Havre where he had paper routes to earn spending money so he could do fun things like go to the matinee and drag races with his cousins.
Ron’s first "real job" was working for Cliff Larson at Larson Motors in Sidney, detailing the new and used cars that came in. He later worked for Alan Tofte at the Conoco service station, and then went to work at Blue Rock Companies as a route salesman. Ron spent 7 years at Blue Rock, and in that time he built up routes in Baker and Miles City.
When Sweetheart Bread came to Sidney, they hired Ron to be one of their route salesmen. The supervisor of Sweetheart had gotten so many good recommendations from area businesses, he hired Ron with only a phone interview. Ron worked for Sweetheart Bread for 18 years and came to be known as “The Sweetheart Bread man.” Ron was everyone's sweetheart. He charmed his way into their hearts by talking customers into taking a package of donuts or fruit pies as they passed by the bread rack.
Ron’s final job before retiring was working as a custodian with his Uncle Steve at the Sidney Middle School. He eventually transferred to Sidney Central Elementary and finally settled in at Sidney West Side Elementary. Ron was so good with the young students that he would sometimes be asked to pay special attention to a student going through a hard time. He retired from the Sidney School System after 14 years.
Ron later went back to work part time detailing cars for a local car rental service. With the passion he had for cars, this work wasn't a job at all.
Ron married his first wife, Dawn Smith, and they had two daughters, Danielle and Alycia. He later married Jarri (Jo) Melland on May 25, 1979 in Sidney. Ron and Jarri were blessed with three sons, Eric, Richard and Joseph.
Ron was the happiest in his yard spending hours watering, weeding and trimming. He also loved providing a place for his kids and their friends to go for lunch. There was a lot of grilled cheese and tomato soup, or hot dogs with Mac N Cheese served daily. Ron loved supporting his kids and grandkids in their activities. When his children reached adulthood, the activities included, but were not limited to, beer pong and playing cards. Ron also enjoyed going to the casinos with his sisters-in-law. He often said "When you marry one, you're married to them all."
Ron passed away peacefully at the Sidney Health Center on Tuesday, January 14, 2020. He felt so blessed and thankful to have his wife and children as his caregivers during his hard-fought battle with cancer.
Survivors include his wife, Jarri (Jo), Sidney, MT; children, Danielle Callen (Dave) and Alycia (Greg) Quartieri, all of New Mexico, Eric (Holly) Callen and Joseph Callen, all of Arizona, and Richard (Leah) Callen, Billings, MT; 12 grandchildren, Brittnie (Angelo), Matthew, Dylan, Michylaa, Maygan, Torryn, Lyllanna, Isabella, Brynna, Samantha and Tatiana; eight great-grandchildren, Alycia, Angelo Jr, Isaac, Jayden, Gabriel, Isaiah, Niccoli and Anthony Jr.; a sister, Delane (Clayton) Seese, and brother, Dean (Jolynn) Callen, all of Idaho; aunts and uncles, Steve (June) Paladichuk and Dorothy Paladichuk, all of Sidney, MT, John Paladichuk, California, and Gloria Paladichuk, Oregon.
Ron was preceded in death by: his parents; grandparents; a brother, Duane Callen; great-grandchildren, Alicia and Michael; numerous aunts, uncles and cousins.

Memorial Contribution