Ronald Edward Menter, born May 13 1936 in Keene, NH died peacefully at his home on December 4th 2016 in Laguna Woods, CA after a courageous battle with lung cancer . Ronald - he liked to be called Ed - is survived by his wife Tuyen Huynh. They met in 1990 in California and married on June 20, 1995 in Hot Springs, Arkansas. They lived in Arkansas for ten years and moved back to California in 2004, A short while after, Ed had a serious stroke which impeded on his mobility. However the stroke did not affect his brain as he stayed as sharp and focused as ever.

Because Ed was raised in foster homes since he was born, he had a very unhappy and troubled childhood. He was involved with drugs at the early age of 8 and became addicted to heroin at age 14. A big portion of his young adult life was spent in prison as he has had altercations with authorities while dealing with his drug addiction. In spite of his fourth grade education, Ed was very smart and entreprenarial. Being tired of life in prison, he was determined to work on getting out and staying clean. He actively worked with NA (Narcotics Anonymous) group, acted as the Clinical director of Palmdale General Hospital in California, the first approved private methadone drug detox facility. In 1971, he was elected the first public relation director at the first World convention in La Mirada, California. From 1973 to 1985, because of his extensive experience and knowledge about drugs, Ed was appointed Associate Director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse in Washington, DC. He was also the Head of the Department of Evaluation & Statistics, responsible for the funding of drug treatment programs throughout the USA.

Ed was a loving and caring husband who loved his wife dearly. Despite his tough attitude, he harbored a tender heart, he loved nature, animals, flowers, he dreamed of life on a farm and being a cowboy. But most important to him was his NA family, his legacy to carry the message to the addict seeking recovery. Ed is tremendously missed by his wife Tuyen and her side of the family which has become his family, also by all of his friends in the NA family. He was an inspiration for all of us. Ed's honesty, integrity, straigthfordwarness, strengths and weaknesses, great sense of humor had made him such an endearing figure.

Surviving Ed is also his son Walter and ex-wife Sandy.