Obituary - Ronald A Iwaszkiewicz II FIMMM

Ron was a beloved instructor with a long list of students who have remarked on his positive influence on their careers.

Ronald A Iwaszkiewicz II FIMMM
8 June 1965 – 23 April 2023

It is with great sadness that we lost Ronald Alexander Iwaszkiewicz, II on 23 April 2023 at age 57, after a battle with renal cancer. 

Ron was born on 8 June, 1965, in Detroit, Michigan. He grew up in Auburn Hills, Michigan and attended Michigan State University where he received his BS and MS in packaging engineering.  Ron then went on to a very successful career in the packaging industry, working for SC Johnson in Racine, Wisconsin for a number of years before coming back to Michigan State University to become an instructor at the School of Packaging in the early 2000’s.  Ron always proudly quoted ‘Windolene’ as his last product packaged in the industry. 

Ron was a beloved instructor with a long list of students who have remarked on his positive influence on their careers. Ron taught classes at the school and ran the Packaging Engineering Abroad Program, traveling with students to the United Kingdom for the last 17 years, which Keith Barnes has been a driving force organising and sharing a love of packaging with the students, helping them garner industry experience they could leverage for employment potential. 

Ron was a member of many professional organisations including the IOM3 of which he was a Fellow and a member of the Packaging Group Leadership Team. As a member of our leadership team he brought an interesting and insightful perspective to our discussions, from both an academic and student centered and an international perspective. His generosity and light heartedness in sharing his experience and knowledge was hugely appreciated and helped us all to be better informed and to challenge our thinking.

Ron regularly travelled abroad to speak on packaging engineering trends and the direction of the industry.  His role at the packaging school and the thoughtful guidance he provided the students will be greatly missed. 

Ron was loved by so many. His positive outlook, generous spirit, and kind heart left an impression wherever he went. Once you became Ron’s friend, you had a friend for life.  He always went out of his way to help anyone in need and had an incredible work ethic that will forever be remembered.

Jude Allan MIMMM, IOM3 Packaging Group Chair