Ronnie Maceo

It has been difficult putting into words my thoughts on Ronnie Maceo. Special friendships in our lives can have that effect on you when you are faced with an unwanted and untimely ending. When I heard of the accident, I would say a prayer for Ronnie nightly. For some reason, the call home was greater this time. That mystery we won't get the answer to in this world.

The first thing that popped into my mind when I heard of his passing was something I had realized about a year ago. I retired from work in early 2020. While still working in Texas City, I spent many an hour in Maceo's, often times chatting with Ronnie at length before going to work. What I discovered was that I didn't miss work after I retired, but I did miss more than anything my time at Maceo's and a big portion of it was my time spent with Ronnie. Ronnie could be tough, he could be funny, but most of all, he had a heart of gold…

I first met Ronnie briefly back in the early 1980's when he had Maceo's Restaurant on the Strand. I got to know him a lot more when he had moved on to Austin and had a restaurant there. At the time I was going to Austin quite a bit. I remember at closing time on occasion he'd break out a bottle of wine. Times moved on and I didn't see Ronnie for several years again till one afternoon I went into Maceo's. It was the same old Ronnie I remembered. I had to refresh his memory a bit about the circumstances of our meeting long ago, but after that it was like being welcomed back into the family.

I will always cherish an evening I spent with Ronnie. I believe Maceo's was giving Friday nights a shot business wise. It was empty and Ronnie was just going to close. Ronnie said, "Hey, let me whip up something to eat." So he did and we sat down, just the two of us.

I never liked to ask questions about "THE MACEO FAMILY". I always figured he had been peppered with questions about it over and over again. Was I interested? Hell yes... but I just thought it wasn't the right thing to do. However, now and then we would be talking and then he'd go into a story. I was always comfortable with that because it was on his terms.

Well, that evening we were chit chatting and he says, "Did I ever tell you how my family got into bootlegging?" I hadn't, but if I had, I would have let him tell it again. He went on a bit of a roll that night and I wasn't going to stop him, I just listened.

Ronnie gave me two pieces of memorabilia out of the old Galveston Athletic Turf Club. I said to him I couldn't take it and he said yes you can, it's not that big a deal… That was Ronnie. I cherish them.

I feel very fortunate that Ronnie and I crossed paths in this world. It's one of those shining stars that happens in your life. It's unfortunate that it has been cut short. I have my memories and that's some sort of comfort. I'm going to miss stopping into Maceo's and seeing Ronnie… the handshake and a hug. That's painful to imagine. As one gets older and people pass that were memorable pieces of your life, a bit of you passes with them. It's just the way it feels, at least to me anyway.

God bless you Ronnie. Someday we will meet again and have another quiet dinner together, just you and me.