Ronnie (Veronica) Danko

RONNIE DANKO, 80, died at her home in Ithaca, NY on April 24, 2005, after a two-year battle with ALS (Lou Gehrig’s disease). She grew up near the coal mines in Scalp Level Pennsylvania as one of nine children. After moving to the metropolitan Detroit area, she married Paul J. Danko. They made their home in Roseville, Michigan for the next 40 years where she and Paul raised three children, and where she taught hundreds of elementary school children during her 30-year career as a teacher, most of them at Kaiser Elementary School. In 1998, Ronnie and Paul moved to Ithaca to be near their daughter, Sheila, and her family. Both .

Ronnie and Paul became active participants in their church, Saint Catherine of Siena, until Ronnie’s illness with ALS.

She is remembered most as an extraordinary master teacher, a loving wife, a devoted and caring mother, a very special sister, and a kind and true friend to many. She taught her children and others how to love and care through her words and deeds.

She is survived by her husband Paul; her three married children, Paula, Sheila and Martin; and her grandchildren, Kirk, Aria, Melissa, and David Christian.

Her absence will be missed by all, but her love, kindness, and generosity will be remember by all who knew her.

Calling hours will be Thursday, April 28, 2005, from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., at Perkins Funeral Home, 55 West Main Street, Dryden, NY 13053. A memorial Mass will be held on Friday, April 29, 2005, at 10 a.m. at Saint Catherine of Siena.

Remembrances in the form of donations to the ALS Association at http://www.alsa.org/donate/ to help find a cure for this disease and to help support the families affected by it are most appreciated.