Ron Blankenhorn was born on October 11, 1950 and raised in San Francisco, California. His entrepreneurial drive was evident early on when at 8 years old he took his first job as a paperboy. Coming of age in the 60’s, Ron mastered the art of understanding and seeing beyond “the rules,” and learned the value of approaching life with creativity, humor, and playfulness.
As a teenager, Ron developed a passion for martial arts under master Raymond “Duke” Moore, and expanded his expertise to include Kyokushinkai Karate, Kodokan Judo, and Zen Budokai Jujitsu. Through dedication and relentless physical and mental training, he rose to achieve recognition as a 9th dan Black Belt in Karate. He founded the Stanford Self-Defense club in 1969, and authored Women’s Self-Defense, a textbook for high schools and junior colleges.
While completing his MBA at Stanford University, Ron launched his career in the blossoming Silicon Valley tech industry. Over the years, he worked in executive and consulting positions both within the U.S. and globally with big multinational companies like NEC and early-stage ventures like semiconductor processing company PacTech USA. He co-authored many technical articles, including a piece that won the 1993 IEEE Best Paper Award.
Ron met the love of his life, Maria Teresa (“Bobbi”) Espino, at a party in the 1970’s. He always said it was love at first sight—for him at least. His charm, energy, intelligence, and fierce loyalty won Bobbi over. They were married in 1980, and years later they had a daughter, Rhoni, whom he loved deeply. When Bobbi passed away from cancer, Ron continued to keep his wife’s memory alive in his heart.
Ron enjoyed traveling, teaching business and martial arts in other countries, and mentoring young entrepreneurs. He was fluent in Japanese, and dabbled in Chinese, German, and Tagalog. He taught himself how to play the piano by watching an organist in church. He made a mean fettuccine alfredo—when he wasn’t burning something in the kitchen. He played Beatles records loudly on Sunday mornings to wake his daughter so they could dance around the living room together.
Ron is survived and missed by his daughter, his sisters, Michelle Newman, Denise Blankenhorn, and Carol Opp, and his brother, Patrick Shannon.