Ronald A. Weyers

Green Bay - Ronald A. Weyers, age 82, died at home on Friday morning, September 17, 2021 following an 8-year battle with Alzheimer’s disease. Ron was born and grew up on a farm outside Seymour, Wisconsin. He was the oldest son of Bill and Georgianna (Van Vreede) Weyers and brother to six siblings.

Ron started his schooling in a one-room country schoolhouse and then moved on to St. John’s grade school and Seymour High School. At 17 he left school to get a job and put a few dollars in his pocket. He worked at a cheese factory for a year, but soon realized he wanted more than just a paycheck. Shortly after turning 18 he joined the U.S. Army and served in the 82nd Airborne as paratrooper from 1958 to 1962. He successfully jumped out of perfectly good airplanes over 60 times while stationed at Fort Bragg, NC. He was also stationed in Mainz, Germany where he served as the Company Clerk before returning to the states following a car accident.

Shortly before leaving the Army, Ron married his sweetheart, Colleen Vandenberg. They soon had two sons, Jeff and Bob, and settled down to raise them outside Freedom, Wis. Looking to start a career, Ron began selling insurance as an independent insurance agent. Insurance would soon become the career that would define his working life. He soon partnered with Wally Hilliard and in 1970 started an insurance agency that was located in Ron and Colleen’s home. With a strong focus on the customer and a family atmosphere in the office they soon had 17 people scattered throughout the house. It was one big extended family. His sons Jeff and Bob remember what it was like to come home from school and have lots of “second moms” to greet them and ask about their days.

Ron worked hard and was on the road a great deal, but he always found a way to show up at every basketball, football and baseball game that his sons played in. His son Jeff remembers that “sometimes he wouldn’t make it until half-time, but he always found a way to make it.”

In the early ‘70s, Ron and Wally took the unusual step of starting a health insurance company named Wisconsin Employers Group (subsequently Employers Health Insurance) that would go on to employ over 3,000 people. That same family atmosphere that developed in the home office remained the bedrock of the business. Ron was a master of managing by walking around. He would frequently kick off his shoes somewhere during the day and have to backtrack to find them at the end of the day. He wanted input from everybody on how they could “do better” and always made sure to celebrate success. He listened. He cared about people and their lives. Little did he know that the family atmosphere would earn him the fierce loyalty of those that worked with him.

Ron and Wally sold their company to American Express in 1982. In 1988, after brief retirement, Ron and Wally started another health insurance company, American Medical Security. AMS grew rapidly, largely because of the tremendous loyalty of the many agents and staff in their insurance “family.” The band was getting back together and in eight short years AMS grew to rival and surpass their first insurance company. AMS was sold in 1996 and Ron decided it was time to retire for good.

Ron developed his own approach to business. His philosophy was summed up by “Grow, Make Money and Have Fun”. He also believed that innovation and speed were key to growing a business. He was fond of the axiom “Ready, Fire!, Aim”. He knew to surround himself with good people and he built many life-long friendships with many of them.

Ron kept busy in retirement and served on many corporate and charitable boards. Along with Colleen, he created the Weyers Family Foundation as a way to give back to the community that he felt made his success possible. Retirement was a time for Ron to play with his “toys.” To him that meant tractors, backhoes, ATV’s, snowmobiles, trailers and lots of other things to enjoy in the outdoors and share with family and friends. He once had a trailer that had painted on the back “He who dies with the most toys, Wins!”. In his later years he bought some property near Bonduel. He simply called it “The Farm.” It was a place where he could play with his toys and share with family and friends. He enjoyed many years as a snowbird in Tucson, Arizona.

He greatly enjoyed his role as grandpa to his five grandchildren. Ron is survived by his wife of 59 years, Colleen (Vandenberg) Weyers, their sons, Jeff (Maxie Clark) and Bob (Tracy Van Camp); grandchildren, Nick, Alexis (Weyers) Leinon, Anai, Austin and Ben Weyers, and Greg and Holly Brockman; and four great-grandchildren. He was preceded in death by his brother Bob, but is survived by his brothers Jim and Terry and his sisters Judy (Weyers) Raether, Maryann (Weyers) Kemp and Debbie (Weyers) Peterson, as well as many nieces and nephews.

The family would like to extend a special thanks to Ron’s amazing caregivers, Sara Sand, Kari Lykins, Dr. Dan Koster and Ellen Brzezinski and her amazing Stella Vis home healthcare team.

Ron was loved by many and will be greatly missed. His sons never tire of hearing people say “I love your dad. He’s such a great guy”. He truly was.

A celebration of life will be held on Sunday, October 10 from 3:30 to 7:30 on the 2nd floor atrium of the new Resch Expo Center, 840 Armed Forces Dr., Ashwaubenon. All people who worked and played with Ron in life are welcome. In lieu of any gift or memorials, please consider making a donation to a military or veteran’s organization of your choice.
Ron always wanted people have a party, laugh, tell stories and remember all the good times they had together. Please visit www.malcorefuneralhome.com to send online condolences.