Ronald Eugene Heffner

Ronald Eugene Heffner, 74, of Hagerstown, Maryland, passed from this life on Sunday, September 24, 2023 at UPMC Memorial Hospital in Harrisburg, PA. He was the loving husband of Emily Stryffeler Heffner for 44 years.

Born on January 18, 1949, in Frederick, MD, he was the son of the late and Ethel Alberta (Wachter) Heffner and Clark Eugene Heffner.

He was a 1967 graduate of Governor Thomas Johnson High School, where he played on the Football, Basketball & Track teams.

He was involved & worked in the dairy industry his entire adult life. In the early days he was a door to door milk delivery man & a milk tester. He started work at Allen Dairy Farm when he brokered the sale of  Wind Drift Countess Nora to Allen Dairy from the Donald Keller Family.  As a cattle fitter he worked many sales for A. Doty Remsburg & Norman Hill and other sales managers over the years. He was in charge of many show strings & sale crews across the US & Canada. He was dairy herd manager at Hickory Green Farm in VA in the early 80’s.

He & his wife Emily had a small herd Heff Haven Holsteins that included animals they owned, boarded & partnered on. The most notable animal under Ron’s care was  Shoremar S Alicia who won Supreme Champion honors at the Canadian Royal Winter Fair, the All American Dairy Show, Maryland State Fair & NY Spring show while under his care.  Ron brokered the sale of many other high profile cattle over the years. Ron judged many shows across the US & Canada. He had an eye for good cattle & loved the business. He loved working with & judging youth shows sharing his knowledge, mentoring & supporting them. He always took time to talk with them. 

Ron was a member of the Maryland Brown Swiss Assn, Maryland Holstein Assn, Maryland & National Dairy Shrine organizations. He was the 2008 recipient of the A. C. “Whitie” Thompson Memorial Award given annually at World Dairy Expo in Madison, WI

He had the ability to tell stories, make everyone laugh & he could talk to anyone. He valued his many friendships he made in the dairy industry. He knew every good place to eat & had a passion for good pies. He was known to many as “Uncle Ronnie”.

He left this earth doing what he loved getting a Brown Swiss calf sold the morning before his stroke & another heifer sold the day before that.

He is survived by his Wife, Emily, sons Ronald L. Heffner & Blaine C. Heffner, sister-in-law Lou Ann (Karl) LeFever, niece & nephew Katherine & Matthew LeFever (Amanda), several Wachter family cousins and a special God Daughter Addison Goldenberg.  

In addition to his parents, he was predeceased by a special Cousin, Everett Jack Johnson, his mother-in-law & father-in-law Sally & Myron Stryffeler, several other aunts, uncles & cousins. 

The family will receive friends from 2:00 to 4:00 p.m. and 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. on Wednesday, October 11, 2023 at Stauffer Funeral Homes, P.A., 1621 Opossumtown Pike in Frederick, MD.

A celebration of Ronald's life journey will take place at 11:00 am on Thursday, October 12, 2023 from the funeral home chapel with Rev. Tim May officiating. 

Interment to follow at Mt. Olivet Cemetery, Frederick.

Memorial donations may be made “In Memory of Ronald Heffner” to the National Dairy Shrine, P.O. Box 68, Fort Atkinson, WI 53538 to help fund scholarships to college students.

Expressions of sympathy may be offered to the family at StaufferFuneralHome.com.