The passing of Ron Vitro

[whiteymet]

Hi Gang:

I just got this note from another collector:

I'm sorry I have some bad news. Ron Vitro from E & R Galleries in New Rochelle has passed away yesterday at age 80. He did hundreds of BB card shows since 1980.

Condolences to his family

[Leon]

Originally Posted by whiteymet

Hi Gang:

I just got this note from another collector:

I'm sorry I have some bad news. Ron Vitro from E & R Galleries in New Rochelle has passed away yesterday at age 80. He did hundreds of BB card shows since 1980.

Condolences to his family

Very sorry to hear of this. Ron was one of the great guys with some really oddball stuff sometimes. I always enjoyed my chats with him and his son at the National, over the years. RIP good man....

.

[kkkkandp]

Wow - that's a bummer!

I bought a bunch of stuff from him over the years: Goudeys, Tattoo Orbits, American Caramels, Neilsons, T205s. Even bought an N172 Seery from his wife (Edna?) when Ron missed a show I was at. He went back to the Gloria Rothstein shows in White Plains and the shows at Giant Stadium.

He was a good man!

RIP!

[edhans]

Did some business with him at the Shriner's show. Rest in Peace, Ron.

[Rich Klein]

Remember them well. Fountains of knowledge about the cards we all love

Well respected as well!

Rich

[icollectDCsports]

Sad news. I remember buying from him at many shows quite some time ago. RIP and thanks to a good guy.

[chalupacollects]

Bought from him in the past and his dad was our family mechanic for decades RIP


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[Phil Arem]

Condolences to Ron’s family
A nice man who I made many purchases from in the 80s and 90s

[Hankphenom]

Always smiling, what a nice guy he was! I think Ron was set up at every show I ever went to or set up at. Another chunk of hobby history gone...

[bigfanNY]

Ron was a good friend and we transacted business too many times to count. He had some heart issues a number of years back , but he fought back and kept on enjoying life and our hobby with his wife and Family. Saw him last fall in White plains. Sad news to hear. My condolences to his family and his many friends.
Jonathan

[aelefson]

I am really sorry to hear this. I enjoyed talking with him at the White Plains shows and Wilmington when he set up there. He was very knowledgeable and fair to deal with both selling and buying. He will be missed.

Alan

[Vintagecatcher]

Sad to hear of Ron's passing. Purchased many items from him over the years. He was always very friendly, and he would refer to me as "the Gibson guy" as he knew I collected George Gibson items.

My condolences to his family.

Patrick

[BillyCoxDodgers3B]

RIP to a genuinely kind person, colleague and, on a less serious note, the best head of hair in the hobby. I hadn't seen Ron in years, but he was one whose presence was always welcomed whenever I did.

[Al C.risafulli]

That's so sad to read.

Back in the day, when I walked past his table at a show, he would shout at me "'38 Goudey!" (my main set for a long time). After I started Love of the Game, Ron was one of the first guys to wish me luck. I used to love visiting his table at shows, he always had a great assortment of interesting prewar material.

Condolences to his friends and family.

-Al

[sb1]

Always enjoyed running into Ron at shows. Always had a big smile on his face and happy to see everyone he ran into.

[ValKehl]

I purchased cards from Ron at the Philly Shows back in the day. A really nice guy!

[Brian]

That is so sad!
I saw Ron all the time at the Westchester shows and the National and spent much time talking to him. In fact, my collection would not be the same without him. So many of my favorite cards came from Ron, all bought raw, and I never doubted his vast knowledge. I saw him not too long ago at Westchester. My condolences to his friends and family. He will be missed!

[Aaron Seefeldt]

So sad to hear this. RIP Ron, you are missed already.

[Exhibitman]

Good man, solid hobbyist. RIP, Ron.

[oldjudge]

The first Old Judge cabinets I ever bought were from Ron in the early 1990s. He was an IBM employee at one point if I remember correctly. As others have said, always happy and always had interesting things. He was also incredibly honest. I remember in the mid-1990s there was a card I wanted at an auction in Manhattan. Ron was going and I asked him to bid for me. I figured the card was worth about $5000 but I gave him a limit above this. After the auction ended Ron called me to tell me I had won. Then he told me he got the card for $1250. I asked him how this was even possible. He said he told the other people in the room that he wanted it and not to bid. Everyone loved him so they obliged.
I remember when Ron had some heart problems --probably in the late-1990s or early-2000s. By then his son Ronny was a regular with him at the tables.
He was a good man--rest in peace my friend!

[BillyCoxDodgers3B]

He was definitely much loved due in no small part to being quite the opposite of the caricatured notion of a typical dealer. He was kind, warm, even tempered, never pushy and well spoken. He treated people properly and I never heard a single ignorant or sarcastic comment from him. It's too bad that people don't think of someone like Ron when conjuring up their vision of a stereotypical dealer.

[Jay Wolt]

Sorry to hear this, had some purchases w/ Ron
Always a positive experience

[jbsports33]

Thank you so much for posting this! Ron was a great guy
and Barry and I had the pleasure of meeting him at multiple shows and working out some awesome deals. He will truly be missed in this hobby and will miss our conversations.

[D. Bergin]

I met Ron exactly once in the 90's and still remember it to this day. I was set up at a smaller show in CT and Ron comes in and sets up right next to me. I had previously known him from his ads in SCD but had never met him before.

I think I asked him why he was even doing this show, and he said something about being between bigger shows and needing something to do that weekend.

He couldn't have been a nicer neighbor for me to be set up next to. When I mentioned I needed a certain Native American Tobacco silk to complete a set I was working on, to my amazement he went and grabbed one of his boxes under his table and pulled out the one silk I was looking for and sold it to me for peanuts so I could complete the set.

I was just a kid in my early 20's and his stuff blew my stuff completely out of the water, but he was very complimentary of my set-up, while I realistically thought it was pretty trashy LOL. Very friendly, and we chatted it up for the whole show, which was not exactly wall to wall busy, as it was the time period shows were starting to die off a bit. Especially the smaller shows.

I remember he had a stack of Ruth signed checks in his display, just laying there in a pile. I thought at the time they were super expensive, but likely were a tiny fraction of what they go for nowadays. I was such a super dumb idiot back then.

[Andy Sandler]

Ron was a great guy! I will miss him!

[parkplace33]

He was a legend. RIP.

[Johnny630]

My he rest in peace. My Prayers are with his family.

[seattlerainiers]

Really great guy. Always enjoyed our chats and deals. RIP, and best to his family.

[BRoberts]

The current hobby could surely use more people like Ron. Always had great experiences with him.

[akleinb611]

Damn. I've been dealing with Ron and chatting him up for well over forty years. Everyone else is correct - he was warm, friendly, charming, a great dealer with great stuff. He was practically the only card dealer my wife liked - she has little patience for arrogance, and we have way too much in this hobby. Ron was always friendly, happy to answer anyone's questions, and was truly a role model for anyone who cared to notice. I still remember my first and best deal with him. He had an interesting jersey behind his table at a show in midtown Manhattan in the mid-80's, a flannel that looked a little like a Yankees shirt, but with an odd-looking logo. I thought it might be a minor league shirt and so I traded several Cincinnati Reds knits for it. Much later, the late Dave Mediema identified it as a prop jersey from the movie "Bang the Drum Slowly." Neither Ron nor I had any idea.

So now, Ron's gone, Dave Mediema died recently, and I'm feeling more and more like an endangered species.

Condolences to Ron's family. They should take solace in the fact that Ron was truly well liked by everyone who met him. In this hobby, that's quite an accomplishment.

Alan Kleinberger

[hcv123]

I remember Ron when I was just a kid back at the Gloria Rothstein shows! Always enjoyed seeing him in recent years at the national and Westchester shows. Talked a bunch and had a few transactions over the years. RIP.