Ronald Hockwalt, 59; Headed Walnut Valley School District 12 Years

Ronald Hockwalt, superintendent of the Walnut Valley Unified School District for the last 12 years, died Thursday of pancreatic cancer at 59.

Hockwalt’s cancer was diagnosed in October, but he continued to work until Feb. 21. He died at Kaiser Permanente Medical Center in Baldwin Park.

Former school board member Marsha Sykes said hiring Hockwalt “was one of the best things that I did in my whole career there.” Hockwalt also served on the boards of the American Red Cross, the American Heart Assn. and the Walnut Valley Rotary Club.

He was elected vice president of the Assn. of California School Administrators in May and was twice awarded the organization’s Marcus Foster Award. In 1995 he was named Citizen of the Year by Mt. San Antonio College in Walnut. He won the same honor this year from the Walnut Chamber of Commerce.

He is survived by his wife, Mary; his parents; three daughters, Amy, Megan and Greta; two sons, Timothy and Lee; and a granddaughter, all of Walnut. A memorial service will be held at 5 p.m. Monday at South Pointe Middle School, 20671 Larkstone St. in Walnut.