Ronald L. Grego Jr., age 43 of Holland, was welcomed into his heavenly home on January 1, 2021. Ronnie was born in Oak Park, Illinois on April 5, 1977 to Ronald and Chris Grego. Growing up Ronnie was a talented athlete and had accepted a scholarship to play Division 1 football at Northwestern University, however, Ronnie's life was forever changed after contracting encephalitis in 1995.
Although the challenges he faced changed, Ronnie's attitude never wavered. He played football with the motto "Never Give Up, Failure is Not an Option, Refuse to Lose" and he faced the challenge of relearning to walk, talk and move forward in life with the same determination.
Ronnie was blessed with boldness that allowed him to embrace challenges as he continued to overcome obstacles throughout his life providing inspiration to others. And others were really his focus. Ronnie shared his story and his faith whenever given the opportunity.
Ronnie's impact on those he met will live on and his story will continue to be told by those who survive, including his mother, Chris Grego; grandfather, Philip A. Barker; aunts and uncles: Jan and Robert Grande, Connie and Stephen Giere, Ellen and Doug Wickens; as well as many cousins and friends.
Ronnie was preceded in death by his father, Ronald Grego Sr.; grandparents: Dorothy J. Barker, Louis and Susan Grego.
Funeral services to honor Ronnie's life and faith will be at 12:30pm on Friday, January 8, 2021 at Pillar Church, 57 E 10th St, Holland, MI.
langelandsterenberg.com.
Ron Grego, Wheaton's All-State linebacker in 1994 who earned a scholarship to Northwestern, came down in March 1995 with a rare disease, encephalitis and pneumonia that put him in a coma. Eight months after laying near death, Grego made his first public appearance to attend the state championship and cheer on his former teammates.
At the beginning of the game, the Wheaton players aligned on the field in a ceremonial outline of a "31" pointing to Grego and his parents in the press box. Grego wrote a letter to the team that Muhitch read before the game.
Muhitch: Ron Grego, he was a kid who was headed to Northwestern about the same time as Pat Fitzgerald, he would have been a teammate of Pat's. That was an experience that we had never even heard of this [disease], a D1, high-profile, academically-gifted kid, President of his class, who never got to play college football because of this disease and to this day is still battling the effects of the disease. We committed that state championship run to him. It was such a big part of the school endeavour to help him and his family.
Schweighardt: Ronny was a big part of our program. For him to be able to get there, we did the 31 on the field, to be able to talk to him afterward, it was great. I remember Mr. Grego, Ron's dad, his big thing was "not today, Redhawks."
Then you add to it all the emotion of Ronny Grego, his first day out of the hospital going into the public. They just refused to lose that game.
From shawlocal.com 11/28/2020
Although the challenges he faced changed, Ronnie's attitude never wavered. He played football with the motto "Never Give Up, Failure is Not an Option, Refuse to Lose" and he faced the challenge of relearning to walk, talk and move forward in life with the same determination.
Ronnie was blessed with boldness that allowed him to embrace challenges as he continued to overcome obstacles throughout his life providing inspiration to others. And others were really his focus. Ronnie shared his story and his faith whenever given the opportunity.
Ronnie's impact on those he met will live on and his story will continue to be told by those who survive, including his mother, Chris Grego; grandfather, Philip A. Barker; aunts and uncles: Jan and Robert Grande, Connie and Stephen Giere, Ellen and Doug Wickens; as well as many cousins and friends.
Ronnie was preceded in death by his father, Ronald Grego Sr.; grandparents: Dorothy J. Barker, Louis and Susan Grego.
Funeral services to honor Ronnie's life and faith will be at 12:30pm on Friday, January 8, 2021 at Pillar Church, 57 E 10th St, Holland, MI.
langelandsterenberg.com.
Ron Grego, Wheaton's All-State linebacker in 1994 who earned a scholarship to Northwestern, came down in March 1995 with a rare disease, encephalitis and pneumonia that put him in a coma. Eight months after laying near death, Grego made his first public appearance to attend the state championship and cheer on his former teammates.
At the beginning of the game, the Wheaton players aligned on the field in a ceremonial outline of a "31" pointing to Grego and his parents in the press box. Grego wrote a letter to the team that Muhitch read before the game.
Muhitch: Ron Grego, he was a kid who was headed to Northwestern about the same time as Pat Fitzgerald, he would have been a teammate of Pat's. That was an experience that we had never even heard of this [disease], a D1, high-profile, academically-gifted kid, President of his class, who never got to play college football because of this disease and to this day is still battling the effects of the disease. We committed that state championship run to him. It was such a big part of the school endeavour to help him and his family.
Schweighardt: Ronny was a big part of our program. For him to be able to get there, we did the 31 on the field, to be able to talk to him afterward, it was great. I remember Mr. Grego, Ron's dad, his big thing was "not today, Redhawks."
Then you add to it all the emotion of Ronny Grego, his first day out of the hospital going into the public. They just refused to lose that game.
From shawlocal.com 11/28/2020
Ronald L. Grego Jr., age 43 of Holland, was welcomed into his heavenly home on January 1, 2021. Ronnie was born in Oak Park, Illinois on April 5, 1977 to Ronald and Chris Grego. Growing up Ronnie was a talented athlete and had accepted a scholarship to play Division 1 football at Northwestern University, however, Ronnie's life was forever changed after contracting encephalitis in 1995.
Although the challenges he faced changed, Ronnie's attitude never wavered. He played football with the motto "Never Give Up, Failure is Not an Option, Refuse to Lose" and he faced the challenge of relearning to walk, talk and move forward in life with the same determination.
Ronnie was blessed with boldness that allowed him to embrace challenges as he continued to overcome obstacles throughout his life providing inspiration to others. And others were really his focus. Ronnie shared his story and his faith whenever given the opportunity.
Ronnie's impact on those he met will live on and his story will continue to be told by those who survive, including his mother, Chris Grego; grandfather, Philip A. Barker; aunts and uncles: Jan and Robert Grande, Connie and Stephen Giere, Ellen and Doug Wickens; as well as many cousins and friends.
Ronnie was preceded in death by his father, Ronald Grego Sr.; grandparents: Dorothy J. Barker, Louis and Susan Grego.
Funeral services to honor Ronnie's life and faith will be at 12:30pm on Friday, January 8, 2021 at Pillar Church, 57 E 10th St, Holland, MI.
langelandsterenberg.com.
Ron Grego, Wheaton's All-State linebacker in 1994 who earned a scholarship to Northwestern, came down in March 1995 with a rare disease, encephalitis and pneumonia that put him in a coma. Eight months after laying near death, Grego made his first public appearance to attend the state championship and cheer on his former teammates.
At the beginning of the game, the Wheaton players aligned on the field in a ceremonial outline of a "31" pointing to Grego and his parents in the press box. Grego wrote a letter to the team that Muhitch read before the game.
Muhitch: Ron Grego, he was a kid who was headed to Northwestern about the same time as Pat Fitzgerald, he would have been a teammate of Pat's. That was an experience that we had never even heard of this [disease], a D1, high-profile, academically-gifted kid, President of his class, who never got to play college football because of this disease and to this day is still battling the effects of the disease. We committed that state championship run to him. It was such a big part of the school endeavour to help him and his family.
Schweighardt: Ronny was a big part of our program. For him to be able to get there, we did the 31 on the field, to be able to talk to him afterward, it was great. I remember Mr. Grego, Ron's dad, his big thing was "not today, Redhawks."
Then you add to it all the emotion of Ronny Grego, his first day out of the hospital going into the public. They just refused to lose that game.
From shawlocal.com 11/28/2020
Although the challenges he faced changed, Ronnie's attitude never wavered. He played football with the motto "Never Give Up, Failure is Not an Option, Refuse to Lose" and he faced the challenge of relearning to walk, talk and move forward in life with the same determination.
Ronnie was blessed with boldness that allowed him to embrace challenges as he continued to overcome obstacles throughout his life providing inspiration to others. And others were really his focus. Ronnie shared his story and his faith whenever given the opportunity.
Ronnie's impact on those he met will live on and his story will continue to be told by those who survive, including his mother, Chris Grego; grandfather, Philip A. Barker; aunts and uncles: Jan and Robert Grande, Connie and Stephen Giere, Ellen and Doug Wickens; as well as many cousins and friends.
Ronnie was preceded in death by his father, Ronald Grego Sr.; grandparents: Dorothy J. Barker, Louis and Susan Grego.
Funeral services to honor Ronnie's life and faith will be at 12:30pm on Friday, January 8, 2021 at Pillar Church, 57 E 10th St, Holland, MI.
langelandsterenberg.com.
Ron Grego, Wheaton's All-State linebacker in 1994 who earned a scholarship to Northwestern, came down in March 1995 with a rare disease, encephalitis and pneumonia that put him in a coma. Eight months after laying near death, Grego made his first public appearance to attend the state championship and cheer on his former teammates.
At the beginning of the game, the Wheaton players aligned on the field in a ceremonial outline of a "31" pointing to Grego and his parents in the press box. Grego wrote a letter to the team that Muhitch read before the game.
Muhitch: Ron Grego, he was a kid who was headed to Northwestern about the same time as Pat Fitzgerald, he would have been a teammate of Pat's. That was an experience that we had never even heard of this [disease], a D1, high-profile, academically-gifted kid, President of his class, who never got to play college football because of this disease and to this day is still battling the effects of the disease. We committed that state championship run to him. It was such a big part of the school endeavour to help him and his family.
Schweighardt: Ronny was a big part of our program. For him to be able to get there, we did the 31 on the field, to be able to talk to him afterward, it was great. I remember Mr. Grego, Ron's dad, his big thing was "not today, Redhawks."
Then you add to it all the emotion of Ronny Grego, his first day out of the hospital going into the public. They just refused to lose that game.
From shawlocal.com 11/28/2020
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