Ronald Garth Talney

Ron Talney Died on Aug. 4, 2019 in his home in Lake Oswego, OR. He was born in New Westminster, B.C., Canada in 1936, the Year of the Jubilee, the third child of Mark and Nan Talney. He was the first and the only one of his family to be born in a hospital rather than at home. As he was edging his way into the world late on that Sunday morning, his father, the minister of the local church, was giving his Sunday homily to the church members. Born in the midst of his father’s sermon, Ron became known as “Sunday’s Child,” although he was not always so “full of grace.”

After living in various place in the Pacific NW, as his father took pulpits in several different churches, the family finally settles in the Portland area. He graduated from Glencoe Grade School, Washington High School, and Portland State University. He subsequently did graduate at the University of Southern California and received his Juris Doctorate degree from Northwestern School of Law of Lewis and Clark College.

He practiced law in one venue or another for over forty years, much of it in the area of public interest law with various legal service programs dedicated to the representation of indigent and low income clients, for which he was honored by the Oregon State Bar Assoc. with the President’s Award, its highest recognition for Public Service.

As a pro bono lawyer, he traveled to wear-torn and impoverished countries, such as El Salvador and Haiti, to provide election observation and other legal services, including representation of asylum seekers on the South Texas border and in South Florida fleeing persecution in their countries of origin.

Ron enjoyed a rich cultural life as well, that included music and literary arts. In addition to publishing a number of books, including poetry, fiction and memoir writing, as well as numerous freelance articles in professional journals and a monthly column, My World, for the Lake Oswego Review, he was best known as a poet for writing the official dedication poem for the statue, Portlandia, the second largest beaten-copper statue in the United States, second only to the Statue of Liberty. In his earlier years he was a featured cast member in the Holliday Bowl Opera Co., the New Savoy Opera Co., and the Lyric Theater Society. His last stage appearance was in a production of the Pirates of Penzance in Gill Coliseum starring Sir Martin Greene.

Ron is survived by his wife of over fifty-eight years, Linnette. They met when they were both teenagers and enjoyed a long and loving life together. He is also survived by two of his three children, Jennifer Talney- Needham (husband, Ben), and Aaron D. Talney (wife, Barbara), as well as four grandchildren, Autumn (spouse, Jim), Gabe, Rachel, and Elijah. He was predeceased by his daughter Allison Talney. His last book, a memoir about the death of his daughter, The Emptied Heart: A Father’s Memoir, from Inkwater Press, was published just weeks before his own passing.

A visitation will be held at Finley Sunset Hills Mortuary on Wednesday, August 7, 2019 from 2-4PM, and a memorial service will be held August 20, 2019 at 1pm at Finely Sunset Hills Mortuary, with a reception to follow.