Ronald Joseph obit

Ron Joseph, Olympic Medalist and Pioneering Surgeon, Remembered for Grace and Family

 He was not on the list.

Before illness stilled his body, Dr. Ronald Joseph was once a picture a power, precision and grace.

A decorated Olympic figure skater and later a pioneering orthopedic surgeon, he died peacefully Tuesday after a grueling battle with ALS.

He was the husband of St. Johns County Commissioner Krista Joseph, who departed Tuesday’s Board of County Commissioners meeting after receiving the news on the dais.

Before ALS confined him to a wheelchair and ventilator, Joseph was a world-class master of the ice, whose speed and daring carried him to Olympic glory.

Competing with his sister, Vivian Joseph, he represented the United States in pairs figure skating at the 1964 Winter Olympics in Innsbruck, ultimately earning the bronze medal and becoming part of the first Jewish medal-winning team in Olympic figure skating history.

Born in Chicago on Oct. 9, 1944, Joseph began skating with his sister in the late 1950s. Leaving crowds spellbound, the pair ascended quickly, winning the U.S. junior national title in 1961 and earning senior national medals in 1962 and 1963.

Known for their blistering pace and technical complexity, they competed internationally at the World and North American Championships.

In 1965, the Josephs won the U.S. senior national championship, followed by gold at the North American Championships and silver at the World Championships, before retiring from competition.

Six decades later, Joseph and his sister were inducted into the U.S. Figure Skating Hall of Fame.

Joseph chose medicine over a professional skating career, training at Northwestern University and the Mayo Clinic. Over a 50-year career, he became a renowned orthopedic surgeon specializing in shoulder, hand and wrist surgery and helped pioneer arthroscopic shoulder repair.

Joseph met Krista Keating in 1990, and they built a blended family that included their daughter Ali and Krista’s three children from her first marriage.

The couple shared 32 years of marriage, marked by deep partnership and faith. His devastating diagnosis was delivered on his wife’s first day in office.

Even as the disease progressed, Joseph, who later converted to Catholicism, remained engaged and humorous, with Krista providing unwavering care and support throughout the ordeal.

“Eventually, he could only communicate with his eye movements on a computer screen,” read a statement from St. Johns County. “And yet, his intellect, his love for his family, and his sense of humor never waned.”

In his final interview, he reflected on the principle that charted his life’s course: “It’s the journey that counts, not the medals.”

Donations in Dr. Ronald B. Joseph’s name can be made to Our Lady Star of the Sea in Ponte Vedra Beach where a Catholic Funeral Mass will be held at 1 PM on Friday. The public is welcome.