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Ronald Kakebeen was born October 27, 1947 to Myra and
Hendrik Kakebeen in Jakarta Indonesia. No he wasn't a planned
parenthood product. Before the war his older brother Dino was born and
after Henk spent most of the war in a Japanese prison camp he
miraculously reunited with Myra and voila, nine months later.
Approximately late 1950, the Indonesians claimed their independence and
ousted all the Dutch. Henk smuggled Myra and three children Dino, Ron
and Freddy back to Holland with just their lives intact and very few
personal belongings or heirlooms.
In Holland the Kakebeens settled down in The Hague (Den Haag) in a cozy
two bedroom bottom flat. Ron grew up thinking the place was huge
playing soccer and various other games in the streets. But on a return
trip, he found out that with cars parked on either side of the road
there was barely enough room for one car to pass on through. While in
The Hague, Hendrik, hating the cold and lack of opportunities, put in a
request to immigrate either to Brazil or California. In the mean time
Rene and Gaby were born.
Then about 1957, prayers were answered and Ron thought
he was going for a little trip to a far away place and that he would be
back sooner or later. After learning English and passing all kinds of
tests and receiving immunizations and acquiring sponsorship and saying
goodbye to friends and grandparents, the Kakebeens boarded the Groote
Beer (Big Bear) ship and sailed for New York. Once there a train took
them West to California. In California, Henk found out that his sponsors
did not have a job waiting for him. So with meager savings, the now
seven Kakebeens (Dino, Ron, Freddy, Rene & Gaby and parents) settled
into a one bedroom apartment. After many long foot miles and 16 hour
days, Henk landed a job with Challenge Cook Bros. (fixing heavy
machinery). They then moved to a two bedroom duplex on Grandview Street
in Los Angeles. After about a year, 1959, they moved to a rented house
on Alvarado Street across from Mac Arthur Park. Around 1960 they bought
a house on 828 South Burlington Ave., Los Angeles, where most of the
rest of Ron's growing up would take place. Ron went to Precious Blood
Elementary School (PBS), about two miles from Burlington Ave., which he
and his brothers walked daily. He joined the baseball team and speech
team while there. It was there that he performed with his first
band, the Satellites, during one of the talent shows. In the band was
his cousin Ted on drums and Jeff Middleton on guitar while Ron played
the other guitar. Incidentally, it was Freddy that introduced Ron to
his first notes on the guitar. Drums were actually his real inspiration
and Ron played them for a band called the Mysteries, with Dino on
vocals, and student friend from PBS, Jim Suard on bass. Other members
included Jim Agerbeek (guitar), Robby Pelsmaker (guitar) and Randy
Hafkensheid (guitar).
During the latter part of his education at PBS, he was voted student body
president and won a speech scholarship to Loyola High School. Loyola
High School was all boys, probably a good thing because Ron could
concentrate on his education. With an old friend from PBS, Jim Suard
and a new friend, Richard Correll (Leave it to Beaver Show), Ron started
two sock hop bands. The first one was The Exits and the second one was
Ron and the Jumping Beans. Once they opened up for the Dino, Desi and
Billy Trio and they also won third place in the Coca Cola Battle of the
Bands, for which the whole school came to support. In 1966, Ron
graduated and set his sights on medicine. Not quite familiar with the
higher education process, he enrolled at Valley Jr. College where there
were girls. During this period, Ron started a band with his cousins,
brothers and some friends called The Entertainers Revue. (See Freddy's
bio for the names of the members).
Balancing education, with music and girls was next to
impossible and Uncle Sam called on Ron when his grade point average
dipped just below a B. Ron joined the likes of his brother Dino and
Elvis Presley and entered the army from 1969 through 1971. While in the
army he joined talent shows, drill team, soccer teams and leadership
school and consequently only pulled KP duty once during his whole time
there. Boot camp was in Fort Bliss, El Paso, Texas. Next he was
stationed in Fort Sam Houston, Texas destined to become a medic. While
in San Antonio, he befriended John Hicks
and Jerry Nagahashi. Both were very instrumental in stimulating Ron's
continued education once out of the army. On one of the outings there
was an unfortunate accident with Jerry's vehicle and we lost John, while
Jerry and Ron suffered lesser injuries. The call for Vietnam came
twice, but the angel of mercy descended both times and the adventure was
cancelled.
1971 finally arrived with an honorable discharge and new
hopes and aspirations armed with new found knowledge for higher
education and plenty of hands on medical experience, some at the fore
front of cardio-pulmonary surgery and recovery and burn reconstruction.
First thing's first, a long planned trip with Freddy and Henk to Florida
or Bust by Pick-up truck. It was one of the highlights for the two
brothers and dad to take this adventure and really see the bottom half
of the United States. They discovered this is truly an amazing and
diverse country. In 1972, Ron enrolled in Pepperdine University and
received a B. S. in Biology within 2 years.
During the Seventies there were several bands: Harvest,
Family Tree, Joey P. Plus 3, Clinic and Only Once. There were also many
different jobs: Typewriter ribbon factory, supervisor for file clerks at
Occidental Insurance Co., camera sales at Broadway, emergency room
technician for Queen of Angels Hospital, St Vincent's Hospital and
several Convalescent Hospitals. Eventually Geoffrey Middleton , now
director of Associated Technical College (ATC), presented Ron a job to
teach Emergency Medical Technicians (EMT) with an offer he couldn't
refuse.
Yes, Geoffrey is Ron's cousin. While at ATC, Ron
developed certain methods of teaching medical knowledge necessary to
intervene impending death or injury. He enjoyed teaching, but always
moonlighted in some band during this period of his life. Eventually, he
and his brothers formed Jawbone and when the offer came to become a
professional musician, this was the job he had to quit. This then led
finally to Ronny and the Classics.
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Ron learned to play guitar at 14 from books and friends' help. Then he
learned drums at 16 from watching and copying other musicians. He
received formal education in piano and composition as an elective in
Pepperdine. In he 70's he learned to play bass and stuck with this
instrument because he found that very few could play this instrument
according to his liking (in the pocket with the drums). To enhance his
bass playing, he also took a classical guitar course at Glendale College
for two semesters. His roots are in soul music or R & B. He listened
and copied music from the Impressions, Temptations, Four Tops, Sam &
Dave, James Brown and the Four Tops. A major bass influence was Rocco,
the bass player for Tower of Power. In High School he played all the
Beatles and Rolling Stones hits but the Beach Boys were not then on his
hit parade. Today he does enjoy every style and type of music as long as
it is done well and with conviction and passion. Nothing worse than an
entertainer just going through the motion. He owns several basses:
Ovation hollow body, Pantera, Music Man and his pride and joy, the
Pedulla (a birthday present from his family). There are also guitars in
the collection, some of which Glenn will play now and then, red Ibanez,
black Les Paul, black Fender Strat, white Washburn, black Silvertone,
various Classical guitars and an old beat up Hufner.
His favorite color is green but his favorite combination of colors are
red, white and blue, especially when it comes to stars and stripes which
he collects with a passion. Anything stars and stripes: underwear,
socks, pens, golf balls, shirts, shorts, pants, belts, suspenders, ties,
etc. etc.
Hobbies include fishing, tennis, bicycles, kites, camping, hiking,
swimming, skating, recording and writing music.Sports include football,
basketball, tennis, volleyball, archery and ping pong.
Ron is very happily married to Dixie (flight attendant for Alaska
Airlines) who hails out of Olathe, Kansas. They have two very active
and bright children: son Courtney and daughter Anneke. He has two
children from a previous marriage, Jason and Chantall. Jason is
married with one child and has had small roles on TV series and
the movie, "Pirates of the Carribean II". Chantall is married and
a homemaker with three children. Ron, Dixie and all four children
and four grandchildren are a tight knit family, enjoying frequent
outings, get-togethers,especially when it involves music and
entertainment or sports.
His philosophy is very simple: "Be in charge of your own destiny by being
responsible for all your actions, treat others the way you expect to be
and have the best time of your life one day at a time."
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