The flag is flying at half-staff this week at Healdsburg's Recreation Park in honor of Clarence Ruonavaara, a semi-pro baseball player, coach and teacher whose glory days were spent on the athletic field and who helped rebuild the decaying grandstands.
Ruonavaara, 92, died Monday after being stricken at his home with an apparent heart attack.
"I don't think you could find anyone who didn't appreciate what he did for the community," Mayor Gary Plass said Friday, noting Ruonavaara's contribution as an educator and helping a recent community drive that raised more than $500,000 to upgrade Recreation Park.
"There are teachers all of us have had - two or three people in every community that you remember forever," said Jerry Eddinger, who was Ruonavaara's student in elementary school and high school.
"He was one of those that stands out, always there to help," he said.
Ruonavaara, a former history and physical education teacher, also was a principal at Healdsburg Junior High and Windsor Junior High. And he coached basketball and baseball to countless Healdsburg youth, including Eddinger.
He was an outstanding pitcher who played at Healdsburg High and at UC Berkeley, where he graduated in 1942. He later played for the Healdsburg Prune Packers at Recreation Park.
From the 1920s until the late 1950s, "Rec" Park, was the venue for games featuring the Prune Packers against the likes of the Santa Rosa Rosebuds, Petaluma Leghorns and Fort Bragg Loggers.
It was a time when communities thrived on semi-pro ball.
A couple years ago, Ruonavaara recalled the days when the Prune Packers beat the visiting professional San Francisco Seals in a 4-3 exhibition game. He pitched against Bay Area baseball icons Lefty O'Doul and Dolph Camilli.
Camilli, then manager of the Prune Packers, put on a hitting display before the game.
"He told me to throw fastballs, about knee high. He just golfed them right out of there," Ruonavaara recalled in an interview.
Ruonavaara had an amazing recall, according to his longtime neighbor, Bob Platt.
"He would tell be about a batter he faced 70 years ago and he would know every pitch. He would tell he how he set the guys up, how he would throw to someone, like it almost happened last week," said Platt. "He loved baseball. That was a real passion of his."
Ruonavaara for many years served on the board of the district that was formed to install lighting for night games at Rec Park.
A couple years ago, he lent his name to a fund-raising drive to upgrade the park, including the dugout, bathrooms and snack bar. The grandstands were named after him and he was memorialized with a plaque.
"I had never seen him so enthused in my life," said Platt, who knew Ruonavaara for 45 years.
"He was also very humble about it. He said they're honoring him because he was sort of the last one standing. He always wanted everyone to get credit for it," he said.
Ruonavaara was a veteran of World War II, having served as a U.S. Navy pilot patrolling for enemy submarines off the East Coast. He also was a longtime member of the Kiwanis Club.
His wife, Betty, died about five years ago.
A brother, Art, who died in 2003, served two terms on the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors in the 1960s and on the Healdsburg City Council from 1948 to 1962.
Survivors include sons Jim of Windsor and Tom of Paradise, Ca.; brothers Al Ruonavaara of Rohnert Park and Russ Ruonavaara of Joseph, Ore., and a sister, Ann Bynum of Windsor ;
A memorial service is scheduled at 1 p.m. Jan. 21 at Healdsburg Community Church.
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