Ronnie was born in 1918. She was the middle child of two Eastern European immigrants. Her childhood was permanently scarred by two events: First, the Great Depression whose impact on her father's livelihood as a furrier was devastating; second, her young brother's death as a young teenager after spending two years fighting an ultimately fatal lung infection.

Ronnie was an excellent student who, in different times, would have gone on to college and a career. She worked as a salesperson until marrying Phil, with whom she would spend more than sixty years until his death in 2003. She was an excellent mother, active sisterhood member, and avid reader. Her love of reading was passed down through the generations including, but not limited to, her grandson Michael, to whom she mailed a book a week when he was in pre-school, and great granddaughter Emily, who chose books as her Bat Mitzvah theme.

When the nest emptied, she went back to work in a clerical position at Metropolitan Life. She loved working in an office, and she's one of the few people who actually enjoyed commuting to Manhattan on a daily basis. With her sons and grandchildren scattered to Albany and Detroit, she and Phil retired to Delray Beach in 1981. They enjoyed their time there, living next door to Ronnie's older sister, Eve, and her husband, Al, entertaining visiting children and grandchildren, and, of course, shopping. In 2001, she and Phil moved to West Bloomfield where they spent their final days.