Good morning.
I lost my dear friend a few weeks ago. Dealing with Ron’s passing is a deeply personal experience for me. He was my mentor, a colleague, and above all, a special friend. He had an enormous capacity to give of himself. I am today, because I knew him.
However, I can comfort myself by remembering the camaraderie, the joy and the pride that I had in my relationship with Ron. He helped me to be my best. I will miss him very much as we all will, and I will do everything possible to honor his memory and his legacy in all that I do, as I am sure we all will.
Eleanor Roosevelt said, “Many people will walk in and out of our lives, but only a very few will leave footprints on our hearts.” Ron’s footprints will leave mighty impressions on our hearts and lives for as long as we take breath. We are so lucky to have had someone that makes saying goodbye so difficult.
We mourn him, as we should, but we should rejoice in the fact that he was one of us. As Dr. Seuss once said, “Don’t cry because it is over, smile because it happened.” Ron is one of those people that will never leave us, even as he is gone from our presence. Someone said, “Say not in grief, “He is no longer with us, but live in the thankfulness that he was”.
What is left behind is not what is etched on stone monuments, but what is now a part of all of our lives. As we look back on his time with us, know that he spent it well, he made a giant difference, and that his presence will have a lasting impact on the lives of us all.
Ron, you will be sorely missed by us all lucky enough to have known you. As Mitch Albom said,” Life has to end, love doesn’t”.
Ronald H. Menaker dedicated his life to our sport beginning in 1965.
From presiding over the rings as a Best in Show and five group judge, to serving as President, Delegate and member of ten parent and all-breed clubs, to countless stints as Show Chairman, Ron gave his all to purebred dogs. He served this Body between 1996 and 2018 as our Board Vice Chairman and Chairman. He held leadership roles in the AKC Affiliates as well as other prominent organizations devoted to the care and welfare of dogs. After a long career in finance, Ron shared his management expertise throughout the philanthropic and corporate communities by serving on the boards of hospitals and companies. While leading the Board of the AKC, Ron guided our organization to set financial reserves in order to secure the future of our sport. He also used his experience in both the for-profit and not-for-profit worlds to put AKC on a growth trajectory that continues to this day.
Over the years Ron bred, showed and finished Bedlington Terriers, Giant Schnauzers and Border Terriers. But he famously didn’t start out in the ribbons. As Ron said in his last address to you, “For many of us, dogs have changed our lives in incredible ways. I am certainly no exception. Never could I have guessed back in 1959 that a Bedlington Terrier from Gimbel’s department store would chart a course for me that would include more than twenty years of leadership at the American Kennel Club and a lifetime of joy with the sport of purebred dogs.”
He went on to say: “Today’s AKC has evolved tremendously since those early days when I chased points for my Bedlingtons, Border Terriers and Giant Schnauzers. We all may be getting older, yet our dogs are getting better. Whether you think there are too many shows or if you are of the mind that there is not enough competition to satisfy your goals, we still have the most wonderful sport to enjoy with our dogs. I am not one to take it for granted.”
He surely did not. Ron was an influential force in three major areas that were transformative of our organization. He spoke about them during his last address as Chairman of the American Kennel Club. In tribute to Ron, I would like to recount them now.
Today’s AKC is agile, responsive and accountable. Twenty-one years ago, Ron remembered, we were anything but. A major technology and management failure created a severe backlog in registrations that caused our systems to effectively melt down. Months of hands-on work in the trenches, insight from consultants and the dedication of staff were needed to right our sinking ship. Ron Menaker led the team to victory. Every member of the fancy has benefitted from the work that Ron, management and staff achieved during that pivotal time.
Today’s AKC is an active voice for purebred dogs. Before 2001, as Ron reminded us, we were purely a governing body with a grandfatherly attitude to events and clubs. Now we deliver on our responsibility to provide quality competition for the fancy and “edutainment” experiences for the public. Ron was instrumental in building the AKC National Championship to honor our breeders and to introduce the sport of purebred dogs to generations of new fans. Today, the National Championship is our beloved celebration of the culmination of competition throughout the year. The show has enjoyed record-breaking entries for years and has developed a devoted following that has only grown since it has found its network home on ABC television. Thanks to our dedicated staff who make it happen every December, our breeders who exhibit the best of the best, and most of all because of Ron’s vision, the AKC National Championship has become a veritable institution in our sport.
Today’s AKC is a renowned brand with a world-class museum by its side. Headquartered together again in New York City, AKC and the AKC Museum of the Dog make a powerful statement. Ron helped make it happen. He felt strongly that our community should share our message of responsible breeding and ownership with as broad an audience as we could build. He also knew that we could preserve our history more effectively by bringing our collection into the light of a public forum. Our Museum allows us to do both. The Museum opened during Ron’s tenure as Chairman, and of it he said “Little means more to me than the chance to tell the world our story, as in doing so, we can create more allies for the sport we cherish…The return of the AKC Museum of the Dog to New York City has long been a dream for many people, including myself. I am thrilled to have been able to help turn the vision into reality and I will continue to support its growth. I hope you will all do the same.” Ron was always a champion of the arts, and our Museum was so lucky to have him among its most active benefactors.
To me, Ron’s legacy is in the work we have all achieved together to make purebred dogs more accessible to thousands of people. Let us remember his famous lesson of the Gimbel’s dog: everyone has to start somewhere, and if given the chance, there is a place for everyone in the world of purebred dogs. Let’s continue that legacy in his honor. I want to remind you all about our most important consumer-facing educational program, AKC Meet the Breeds, which is set to resume in April. AKC Meet the Breeds® is our opportunity to connect the public to our breeds, clubs and the AKC. It is our chance to tell prospective owners why and how purebred dogs make a difference. We need to embrace this moment. Meet the Breeds® will go on a five-city tour throughout 2022, beginning April 23 in Tampa, Florida. Other stops on the tour include Dallas, San Diego, Columbus and New York City. Past Meet the Breeds® have welcomed record-breaking attendance, including thirty thousand people at the Javits Center just before the pandemic struck. Over the past two years, we have been enormously successful in educating the public digitally, but it is time once again to bring dogs and dog lovers together in person.
AKC Meet the Breeds® is an event like no other. But we cannot do it alone. Our Parent Clubs, Local Specialty Clubs, Companion Events Clubs and their volunteers are our Meet the Breeds® heroes. Fellow Delegates, please ask the clubs you represent to heed AKC’s calls for assistance, as we get closer to our Tampa event date. Please respond to the emails and postal correspondence requesting Tampa Meet the Breeds® registrations no later than next week, March 15. AKC needs your help. Do it for your breed. Do it for our Sport. Do it in Ron’s memory.
Thus ends my story of a most remarkable man with a most remarkable impact on all of us and on our sport.
I’d like to leave on a somewhat lighter note and a personal anecdote…As you are probably aware, I like to share important quotes from important people. I have prepared a plaque that will forever hang on my office wall. It has on it, my favorite of Ron’s quotes, that, if I heard once, I heard it many hundreds of times… and it sure applies to his story.
“You can’t make this shit up…”
God speed, my dear friend.
Thank you.
-Tom