It is with ongoing sadness that I recall the day of August 24, 2020, when I received a voice message from a detective in the Smyrna Tennessee Police Department to call him back. I was afraid that something happened to my lifelong friend, Ronnie Pywell. My fears were confirmed on the following day when I learned that Ronnie had died from an apparent heart attack in his motel room.
My daughter and I went to Tennessee shortly thereafter and took care of his affairs.
We are still left with a hole in our hearts as we recall what an extraordinary person and friend Ronnie was to us and all who were privileged to call him “friend.” No one could ever forget how he automatically lit up the room with his unbounded energy. Ronnie never met a stranger because he could start a conversation about anything with anyone at any time. Ronnie was undoubtedly the best salesperson I ever knew because he was as genuine and caring as he seemed.
His sincerity was proven out in my life when he would visit me while I was serving a very long prison sentence for the cultivation of marijuana. Ronnie refused to accept my sentence. He was a character of all characters. I recall that he pleaded with me to apply for a commutation of sentence. He told me that former President Bill Clinton “did inhale”, and that the President was going to commute some sentences for me and other low-level nonviolent drug offenders like myself. Without his encouragement and friendship, I would not have this experience of living my life doing what I love to do — helping others avoid or get off the disastrous path I took with drugs and alcohol in my life. Ronnie was on this same course in life but was smart and insightful enough to see where it was going — and changed direction.
We were both surprised we were not arrested for our animation, joy, and excitement with seeing and reliving our crazy past with each other on the occasion of him visiting me in prison.
I recall Ronnie telling me how he was often amazed that I never separated myself from the “riffraff” that held me down and kept me from realizing my true potential. He told me I had more energy and smarts than most successful people he knew, but that I got it going in the wrong direction. My friend convinced me that this was why I was now serving a 27-year prison sentence for cultivation of marijuana.
Ronnie always loved that I am now able to do what he felt I was born to do, which was to help others in my predicament turn their lives around. It is because of this great blessing in my life and the role he played in my freedom that I am able to do the work that I do.
The one thing that I would like to be able to import from my friend Ronnie’s life is the need to get help. Ronnie needed to find a smoking cessation program as his smoking ultimately took his life — while my quitting in prison on October 10, 1995, has allowed me to be here today.
The last thing that I would like to say and thank my friend for was him coming up with the name “The Caring Center of Wichita.” Ronnie felt that was appropriate for the collective of small businesses dedicated to helping others that we had when we started this endeavor in January 2012. At that time, he was trying to get United Care USA for the prevention of child abuse off and running in the basement of The Caring Center of Wichita.
Ronnie’s legacy lives on in the work we do for the many families we have served here at The Caring Center of Wichita. Today Ronnie remains ever so close in our hearts and spirit.
Rest in peace my dear friend – we love you.
Peter
