ACerS Member E. Ronald Tostevin Jr., died on March 13, 2008. He was born May 29, 1928, in New York City.
He attended Trinity College and graduated cum laude from Alfred College of Ceramics, starting his professional career as an industrial ceramics engineer with Western Electric Co. in Allentown, PA.
He was a project engineer, making ceramics for the first Trans-Atlantic Cable. He also worked for Frenchtown CFI in Frenchtown, N.J., as vice president in charge of production. He moved to western Pennsylvania in 1971, to work for Glass Beads Co. and also to Basic Glass in Oklahoma. He eventually became the owner and president of both companies, a position he held until his retirement in 1993.
He was an Army veteran of World War II and the Korean War. In addition to being a member of the American Ceramics Society, he was also a member of the Latrobe Chamber of Commerce and a former member of the Westmoreland Economic Development Corp.
He was very active as an actor and director with the Valley Players of Ligonier. He is survived by his wife of 50 years, Audrey Kirchman Tostevin; two daughters, Laura T. Sacchi, of Big Sky, MT, and Cynthia Sarver and her husband, Daniel, of Ligonier, PA.; a son, E. Ronald Tostevin III, of Hewitt, N.J.; and four grandchildren, Helena Carla Sacchi, Benjamin Lansing Saad and James Andrew and Tyler Morgans Sarver.