No matter which way you sling it – You Can’t Beat Ron’s Meat!

Team Terrill in a 2022 News photo proclaiming there is “No ‘Off’ in Our Future.”  Even though Marcellus’ favorite meat slinger, Ron Terrill, passed away July 21, Terrill’s Market is poised to carry on for a grateful community. Pictured, left to right, Blake Terrill, Mikki Spagnoli, Jacqueline Terrill, McKenna Terrill, Ron Terrill, and Dane Terrill. – News Photo

Marcellus’ favorite meat slinger hung up his butcher’s apron for the last time, Sunday, July 21. Ron Terrill (1943 – 2024) lived up to his stated retirement timeline, “They’ll have to carry me out of here.” And so they did. . . 

      Fortunately for the community and surrounding area, Terrill’s Market, one of the longest, continuously operating businesses in Marcellus and home of the famous Ronnieville Brat, will carry on under the care of subsequent generations of Terrills. All who knew Ron are indeed saddened by his passing, but oh, what stories we can share for years to come.

Ron Terrill …………. Totally Unforgettable
by John Mooy

   I received a phone call last night [Sunday, July 21] from my lifelong friend Ron Welburn.  He wanted to let me know that Ron Terrill had passed.  Of course I was saddened.  While most folks in Marcellus will remember Ron as the third generation of Terrills who stood behind the counter in their supermarket, I along with Ron allowed our phone conversation to drift back to a different time.  Our younger days which we shared with Ron.

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   Ron was a better than average student in a class (1962) that had many outstanding students.  Many of them have gone on to make important contributions both in Marcellus and across the country.  Ron was one of those contributors.  After his senior year Ron headed off to college and it was there he found that college was simply not for him.  He had already found where he could most positively impact people – behind the counter in the market.  It was there he became a bit of a gourmet producer of outstanding meats.  From the brats to the steaks to the roasts, Ron was an expert.  Everyone in town has their own personal favorite; mine happens to be the marinated pork steaks which I prepare on the grill.  I recall my dad saying that he would go into the market and simply say, “Ron, we’re having a total of eight people for our Sunday dinner this weekend, what do I need?”  Without hesitation Ron would fill the order, wrap it up quickly in butcher paper and hand it to Dad.  Ron had meat market credibility.  Marcellus counted on that.  As I think of it, Ron was an ambassador for the community of Marcellus.  He will be greatly missed.

   But it was baseball where Ron excelled.  From their house above the store on Main Street to the two-tone green Pontiac they had to the green pickup truck, you could always find baseballs, gloves and bats in them.  Ron was a pitcher.  He had a high-octane fastball to go with a wide breaking curve.  In a baseball uniform he looked the part of the fierce competitor that he was.  The drawback being that while Ron could prevent the other team from scoring runs, most of the players who surrounded him were not that adept at scoring runs.  One can only imagine what might have been had Ron been surrounded by the current crop of Wildcat baseball players.

   Ron was a HUGE Chicago Cubs fan and always followed what the team was doing via his Channelmaster transistor radio.  That was the small radio most of us in Marcellus had while in high school and it was always turned on no matter where you were.

   Ron could rattle off the players’ names as we did with the Detroit Tigers.  Ron would mention players like Billy Williams, George Altman, Ron Santo and Ernie Banks.  But it was the pitchers he knew the most about:  Dick Ellsworth, Glen Hobbie, Bob Buhl, and Dick Drott.

And then there was the humorous side of Ron.  Let me just mention one of the many stories that I can recall.  The year was 1962.  Ron was pitching and we were playing Cassopolis on their field.  I was on the bench as an observer.  Ron was pitching a masterful game with dark rain clouds overhead.  Being an away game, the visitors always bat in the top of the inning so in the top of the fifth the clouds opened up and we had to complete our at-bat to make it a complete game.  I don’t recall who made the first two outs of the inning, but I do recall our coach, John Frye, telling Ron he should go to the plate and strike out to get the ball game over thus securing a Wildcat victory.  Of course, it was fate that put Ron in position to intentionally make the last out of the game.

   He strode to the plate and took his position in the batter’s box.  Now in a fairly heavy downpour the first pitch was delivered LOW to the plate and Ron swung maybe three feet over the top of the pitch and said something like, OH NO.  We on the bench started to laugh as we waited for the next pitch which we’ll say was way outside.  Ron again swung and missed.  He missed by swinging as if the pitch was inside.  And now everyone was laughing, even Coach Frye and the opposing team as well.

   We all waited for what would be the final pitch as again Ron swung and missed by what they would say was “a country mile.”   And in doing so we won the game.

   Now I catch myself laughing as I type up this anecdote.  That was Ron.

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   I will try to use the store, the counter and Main Street as reminders of the great stories Ron Terrill has provided us with through the years.  And now it’s our job to recall those stories and tell them whenever possible.

Have a great week, Marcellus.
You’re the best.
And thank you, Ron.

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   The Terrill family has announced that a community parking lot party is being scheduled in Ron’s honor. Please follow Terrill’s Market on Facebook and read The Marcellus News for details.