Biography: E. Lee Ronnel, age 85, died on January 29, 2022 after living the American dream. 

Lee Ronnel was born June 16, 1936 in Shanghai, China.  His parents were professional musicians who fled Russia during the Bolshevik Revolution.  Lee’s father was a virtuoso piano soloist and guest conductor of the Shanghai Municipal Orchestra.  As a young boy, he attended the prestigious Rimsky-Korsakov Academy in St. Petersburg, Russia.

When Lee was 6 years old, his father died unexpectedly shortly after the Japanese military began occupying Shanghai.  After his father’s death, Lee’s mother helped run a music store and taught piano lessons to support her only child throughout World War II. After the war, Lee’s mother got re-married to a U.S. Army officer who was helping rebuild war-torn Shanghai.

In April 1948, at age 11, Lee Ronnel and his mother came to America and settled in the New York City suburb of Tuckahoe, where they both became naturalized US citizens.  For Lee, gaining U.S. citizenship was the greatest honor and opportunity of his life.
Lee attended public schools in Eastchester, New York before attending Carnegie Institute of Technology and graduating from New York University with a Bachelor of Science degree in Industrial Management. 

Hard work was engrained into Lee at an early age.  As a high school student, he worked various service jobs, played piano in a dance band, and performed as a piano soloist with the local symphony.  Lee paid for college by joining the Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) program at NYU. 

During ROTC training in Greenville, Mississippi, Lee met Dale Grundfest, a farmer’s daughter from the Mississippi Delta town of Rolling Fork, MS.  He and Dale were married in Rolling Fork on July 3, 1960. Together they lived in Texas, California, and Washington State while Lee was serving his country as a flight navigator in the U.S. Air Force.

Lee retired from the Air Force in 1964 with the rank of Captain and, at the urging of Dale’s parents, moved to Little Rock, Arkansas with Dale and their first child Karen in tow to begin work at a scrap metal recycling company owned by Dale’s uncle.  Like his musical ability on the piano, Lee was a virtuoso in business and a distinguished 55 year career ensued. 

In 1979, Lee founded Metal Recycling Corporation in Little Rock.  He guided Metal Recycling Corporation successfully for over four decades with the help of his sons Mike, who joined the family business in 1989, and Steve, who joined in 1999.  During Lee’s tenure as President, Metal Recycling Corporation grew to 90 employees at three metal recycling centers in Little Rock, North Little Rock, and Searcy and 2 metal commodity trading companies in Little Rock. Lee always credited the growth and success of his family business to the loyalty and professionalism of his many long-tenured employees whom he considered extended members of the Ronnel family, and to the incredible business friendships he was blessed to make and maintain throughout his career. 

Lee gave back to the recycling industry by serving on the board of directors of the Gulf Coast Chapter of the Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries, which honored him with its Israel Proler Lifetime Achievement Award.  Lee also served as Chairman of the Arkansas Chapter of the National Association of Purchasing Management and was a member of its National Board of Directors.
Lee loved Arkansas and always felt fortunate to have settled with Dale in such a great place to conduct business and raise their family.  As much as he enjoyed traveling the world with family and close friends, there was no place like his second home on Greers Ferry Lake, where time stood still for Lee to enjoy yard work, fly fishing, boating, entertaining friends, quiet time with Dale and a good book, and therapeutic sessions on the piano.   

Lee gave back generously to his adopted home state.  Befitting his family’s classical musical history, Lee was a 50+ year patron of the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra (ASO).  He served as Chairman of the ASO Board of Directors, headed multiple ASO conductor search committees, co-chaired with wife Dale ASO Opus Ball X, was honored with ASO lifetime board membership, and along with Dale received the Governor’s Patron of the Arts award.   

Lee also was dedicated to the growth and success of the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS), where he volunteered for over 30 years following a serious snow skiing accident that resulted in multiple surgeries and a lifetime of gratitude.  Lee served as Chairman of the UAMS Foundation Fund Board and was UAMS representative to the University of Arkansas Foundation, Inc, which he also chaired.  Lee’s personal generosity to UAMS included scholarships for medical school students, cardiovascular fellowships and research funds, as well as various gifts for UAMS campus construction and beautification projects.  UAMS honored Lee with lifetime membership to the UAMS Board of Advisors. 

Lee served as Board Chairman of the Jewish Federation of Arkansas, where his ability to speak Russian fluently was tapped to help Russian Jewish immigrants get settled and find work in central Arkansas.  Lee and Dale were honored with the Jewish Federation’s Jane B. Mendel Lifetime Achievement Award. 

Lee was a fixture at the Little Rock Racquet Club since its inception.  He served as Board President, was a swim team parent, and cherished his regular doubles tennis matches with the same group of friends for over 50 years.
Lee was preceded in death by his mother Dora Paley Ronnel, his father Leo Itkis, and his step-father Eliot A. Ronnel.  Lee is survived by his wife Dale Grundfest Ronnel, daughter Karen Ronnel Pear, sons Mike Ronnel and Steve Ronnel, son-in-law David Pear, daughters-in-law Stacey Ronnel and Jennifer Ronnel, and five grandchildren whom he adored, Jason, Marilyn, and David Ronnel and Allie and Missy Pear.  

In lieu of flowers, the family respectfully suggests that contributions in Lee Ronnel’s memory be made to the endowment funds of Arkansas Symphony Orchestra, UAMS, Jewish Federation of Arkansas, Temple B’Nai Israel, or the charity of your choice.
Memorial Services will be held at Congregation B’Nai Israel in Little Rock at 2:00 pm, Monday, January 31, 2022.  Covid protocols require surgical or KN/N95 masks (provided at door if needed) and proof of triple vaccination or negative PRC test taken 48 hours in advance.  To expedite Temple entry, please email proof of vaccines or negative PCR to ehamilton@bnai-israel.us.  Services will be live streamed at www.bnai-israel.us