Ronald Cork

Services for former Marion hospital administrator Ronald James Cork, 80, who died June 12, will be 1:30 p.m. Thursday at Avery Presbyterian Church in Bellevue, Nebraska.

Born Oct. 8, 1945, in Alta, Iowa, to Wilfred and Marjorie (Miller) Cork, he graduated as salutatorian of Galva High School in 1963.

He continued his education at Morningside College in Sioux City, Iowa, and Northern State University in Aberdeen, South Dakota, later receiving bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of South Dakota.

He served in the U.S. Army from 1968 to 1972 and continued in the Reserves until 1982, attaining the rank of major.

In 1978, he began a nearly four-decade calling as a hospital administrator with Lutheran Hospital and Homes, serving communities in Marion as well as Sterling, Colorado; Fairbanks, Alaska; and Hot Springs, South Dakota, before dedicating his final 25 years to Avera St. Anthony’s Hospital in O’Neill, Nebraska.

He was married to Vicki Cave on June 9, 1967, at First Congregational Church in Vermillion, South Dakota. They had three children, Thad Cork, Dodie Eveleth, and Tyler Wilson, and five grandchildren.

A memorial has been established with Avera St. Anthony’s Hospital Foundation, 300 N 2nd St, O’Neill NE 68763.