Ronald Sempf

After several years of declining health, Ronald Gary Sempf, 74 years old, finally succumbed to kidney failure brought on by rhabdomyolysis on March 31, 2023, in a care facility in Evanston, Wyoming.

Ron, as he was known to most, was born on April 22, 1948, to Cecil Frederick and Tamara Malkova Sempf in San Francisco, California. Ron attended San Francisco public schools, including James Lick Middle School, where he first met Martha Louise Barnes in band class playing clarinet. Ron and Martha continued to play clarinet together in high school band throughout their time at Mission High. Ron also competed on the Mission High School Cross Country track team. To earn spending money as a teenager, Ron dragged a heavy yellow steel newspaper cart up and down the hills of San Francisco delivering the San Francisco Chronicle. His family held on to the newspaper cart for numerous years as it proved useful for shopping and laundromat trips.

Ron graduated from San Francisco’s Mission High School on June 15, 1966.  He attended Southern California College (now Vanguard University) in Costa Mesa for a year then married Martha Barnes on September 9, 1967, in San Francisco and moved to Mill Valley, California. Ron and Martha had two children together. However, his struggles with mental illness and alcohol addiction prevented him from having the kind of happy family life most people hope for. After many years of separation and reconciliations, Ron and Martha finally divorced on January 18, 1983. A year later Ron moved to Wyoming.

Wyoming was a natural choice for Ron because he found much solace in outdoor activities such as hiking and camping and was an avid sport fisherman his entire life. Ron enjoyed cooking, and although he worked in various industries, he always went back to cooking in restaurants. Ron was quick-witted with a sharp sense of humor. He was also a lifelong learner with a broad range of interests.

Ron was preceded in death by his father Cecil Frederick Sempf, brother Ernest Michael Sempf, mother Tamara Malkova Williams, and stepfather Everett “Willy” Royal Williams.

Ron is survived by his son Emil Johann Sempf, his daughter Tanya Idalia Agbayani, his son-in-law Nestor Acob Agbayani, his grandsons Alfred Primo Agbayani and Victor Edward Agbayani, his brother Walter Richmond Andrae, and his sisters Barbara Ann Sempf, Anna Ceema Haynes, and Lynn Ellen McLenon.

Ron’s final resting place will be the San Francisco Columbarium located at One Loraine Court in San Francisco, California.