Obituary: Ronald K Sedgwick (8/16/1943-10/26/2026)

2 hours ago

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Ronald Sedgwick passed away peacefully at home in Juneau, surrounded by his loving family. Born in Redlands, California, he first came to Alaska when his first wife Sue Kramer, whom he met at pharmacy school at Oregon State University (Go, Beavers!) took him to her father's logging camp in Ketchikan. He was immediately hooked on Alaska, and moved to Juneau permanently in 1968.

Ron was the co-founder of Ron's Apothecary, along with Sue. The pharmacy has been in the Mendenhall Mall next to Super Bear since 1977 and has become a landmark. A second location was opened when they partnered in building the Medical Center adjacent to Bartlett Regional Hospital. Son Carrington has a fond memory of his dad in their garage making the sign that is still in place near the same day surgery side of the building.

In the late 1980's, Ron significantly expanded the compounding capacity of the pharmacy. This greatly increased his ability to care for the people and pets of Juneau and Southeast. The family is proud of Ron for the services he provided to Juneau and neighboring communities. As recently as this summer, people were calling him to request Ron's diaper rash ointment, Ron's bug bite gel, and Max's (his beloved little white dog) skin eruption cream.

After nearly forty years of working as a pharmacist, he handed the reins over to Scott Watts, who did an outstanding job of maintaining the quality of care and service for another 20-plus years.

Although widely known to the community for being the Ron of Ron's Apothecary, there was much more to him. He was quick with words, loved a good practical joke, and was a great host for large parties. Old friends remember the Gourmet Club, and he was a skiing, scuba diving and photography enthusiast as well as a hunting and fishing aficionado.

Countless days were spent aboard his boat Conquest exploring Southeast Alaska. Daughter Tanni recalls one of these memorable boat trips when, still a young child, she had reeled a large king salmon all the way up to the boat. When her dad saw how big the fish was, he quickly grabbed the pole and landed the 51-pounder himself! He graciously shared half of the credit for the catch with her. Ron has requested that his ashes be tossed over the waterfall at the head of Pavlov Harbor, his favorite anchorage.

After retirement, he and Max thoroughly enjoyed traveling the back roads throughout the western United States and Canada in his motor home, rarely camping in established campgrounds.

Ron avoided shoveling snow by buying a home in Boca de Tomatlan, Jalisco, Mexico, where he spent winters exploring, enjoying a margarita with friends at his favorite beach restaurant, and sitting on his balcony, watching the river flow and saying hola at all who passed by.

Ron is survived by his wife Linda Wild and her children and grandchildren; son Carrington (Stacy) Sedgwick and their children; and daughter Tanni (Shawn) Swisher and their children. Linda's tribute to Ron is this: "One of the best moves we ever made was to walk across the driveway to each other to share these last eleven years."

There will be an open house gathering at his home on Atlin Drive next July to celebrate his life and tell stories, date to be announced.

Kudos to the greatest drug dealer in Southeast Alaska - he will be deeply missed!