Ronald Alan Krasnow passed away early in the morning of March 20th, 2025, dying due to complications from battling pancreatic cancer for 8 months.
Ron was born on September 14, 1962 to Sheryl and Richard in Indianapolis, Indiana. Growing up in Oak Park, Michigan alongside Stephanie and Audrey, he was an avid hockey and tennis player. He graduated from Oak Park High School in 1980. Ron attended the University of Michigan for his bachelor's degree in engineering. After graduating in the class of 1984, Ron worked for Marathon Oil before moving to Washington, DC, to attend law school at George Washington University. At GW, he met Ellen in 1988. They fell in love and were married in 1991, together for almost 34 years.
After living in New York City on the Upper East Side, Ron and Ellen moved to Rye, NY in 1993 where their children were born: Ben in 1994, and Jack in 1996. While living in New York, Ron practiced law at Fish & Neave. On New Year's Eve 1997, Ron moved with his family to Palo Alto, California. In Palo Alto, Ron dedicated himself to his family: volunteering his time coaching Little League baseball and ensuring Ben and Jack were educated in the Jewish faith at Congregation Etz Chayim.
Ron was a skilled attorney, specializing in patent law. He relocated from the premier patent law firm in New York to lead a number of startups and pharmaceutical companies to market and to the public offerings in the Bay Area and Europe. He loved watching, what he called, the "babies" evolve and take off (or not). Ron was a teacher and mentor to law students at Santa Clara Law School where he taught intellectual property and cap tables. He also published a treatise on intellectual property culture with his good friend and colleague, Eric Dobrusin, which he taught and updated over years.
Ron loved to compete, channeling his competitive nature into exercising, loving riding his bicycle around the hills of California. He rode his bike from San Francisco to Los Angeles on the AIDS Ride in 2001. He was a multiple time participant in Escape from Alcatraz swim and bike ride. For his 60th birthday, he did a triathlon in Malibu. He was an avid sports fan who went to hockey, basketball, football, and baseball games every year. A lifelong Wolverines fan, he loved to say Go Blue to anyone wearing Michigan gear and to root against Ohio State. He grew up a Red Wings, Pistons, and Lions fan but adopted the Bay Area's Sharks, Warriors, 49ers, and Giants.
Ron loved his hobbies - his passion for movies and TV shows meant that he had to have the best picture and sound for the living room den. He was constantly solving puzzles and building LEGOs. His passion for the outdoors led him to visit as many National Parks as he could in his life. He loved gardening in the backyard, setting up hydroponic lettuce systems and building cages to prevent the squirrels from getting to his favorite fruits. He loved Lake Tahoe and the mountains, finding peace in nature. He loved music and concerts, following The Who from city to city on tour when he was in college. Later in his life, he would pick up motorcycling and go on trips with his friends around California and to Europe.
The Krasnow family would like to thank his pancreatic cancer team at UCSF, Doctor Andrew Ko, Sheila Lindsay, and Elizabeth Dito for doing their best to help him fight his cancer. Another thank you goes to the UCSF Parnassas Intensive Care team for helping to take care of him in his final days. Also, a very special thank you to Karen Holbrook who served as Ron's patient advocate and medical translator from the very beginning of his tour of Cancerland.
Ron is survived by his wife, Ellen, his sons, Ben and Jack, his mother Sheryl, his sister Audrey Gaynor and her husband Paul of Chicago IL, brother-in-law David Semaya and his wife Masako of Tokyo, Japan, and his brother-in-law John Parrish of Pendleton, South Carolina; he is also survived by his nieces and nephews: Noah Gaynor, Julia Gaynor, Isaac Semaya, Rachel Semaya, Hannah Semaya, and Joseph Parrish. He was the son of the late Richard Krasnow and the sister of the late Stephanie (Krasnow) Parrish.
Donations in his memory can be made to:
Etz Chayim (etzchayim.org)
Pancreatic Cancer Action Network (PanCan.org)
CaringBridge.org
If you would like to attend Shiva on Sunday, March 23 at 7 pm, or Monday, March 24 at 7 pm, please reach out to rememberingronkrasnow@gmail.com for details.