The UW-Oshkosh athletics community mourns the loss of former student-athlete and coach Dr. Ronald Akin, who passed away March 21 in Oshkosh at the age of 84.
The Hortonville High School graduate attended UW-Oshkosh from 1956-59 and earned four varsity letters in both basketball and track & field for the Titans.
Akin led the UW-Oshkosh basketball team in scoring (264 points) in 1958 and was co-captain of the 1959 squad. The 1958 season featured Akin setting a then-Albee Hall record with 13 field goals in a game against UW-Stevens Point.
In track & field, Akin placed four times in the 880-yard relay and three in the javelin at the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Outdoor Championship. He was a second-place finisher in the javelin at the 1958 league meet.
After graduating from UW-Oshkosh in 1959, Akin launched his teaching and coaching career at Reedsville High School. He initiated the school’s track & field program while serving as an assistant football coach and guiding the boys’ basketball team to a pair of conference championships.
In the fall of 1963, Akin was named physical education teacher and boys’ basketball coach at Chilton High School.
Akin, who coached his high school basketball teams to a six-year record of 89-38, returned to UW-Oshkosh in the fall of 1965 to teach physical education classes.
Following a sabbatical leave to Indiana University for doctoral work during the 1967-68 academic year, Akin came back to UW-Oshkosh to teach physical education classes and assume the duties of assistant men’s track & field and interim head men’s cross country coach. He led the 1968 UW-Oshkosh men’s cross country team to an 11-1-1 dual record and a second-place finish at the WIAC Championship.
In the spring of 1971, Akin was selected to replace UW-Oshkosh head men’s track & field coach Jim Flood as the school’s head men’s cross country coach. Akin remained as an assistant men’s track & field coach through the 1983 season while guiding the men’s cross country team through the 1976 campaign.
After 15 years as an assistant coach, Akin was named the head men’s track & field coach at UW-Oshkosh. He served as Titans’ head coach for the 1984 and 1985 seasons before retiring from coaching to become a full professor in UW-Oshkosh’s Department of Health, Physical Education and Recreation.
During Akin’s 17-year association with the UW-Oshkosh men’s track & field program, he helped coach three teams to WIAC titles. He also coached 33 athletes to conference titles and 13 to All-America recognition.
In 1984, Akin was named the WIAC Men’s Track & Field Coach of the Year after guiding the Titans to second-place finishes at both the league’s indoor and outdoor championships. UW-Oshkosh concluded the 1984 season with an eighth-place finish at the NCAA Division III Outdoor Championship. The following year, Titan Max Harn won the 800-meter run at the Division III Outdoor Championship to become the first national champion in program history.
Akin, who also served as an assistant men’s basketball coach at UW-Oshkosh from 1976-80, was inducted into the UW-Oshkosh Hall of Fame in 1986.
Akin’s academic interests in teaching UW-Oshkosh students were significant. He developed an academic curriculum for the school’s Therapeutic Recreation Program while serving as Chairman of the Health, Physical Education and Recreation Department. He also chaired several UW-Oshkosh committees.
In addition to his bachelor’s degree from UW-Oshkosh, Akin received his master’s degree from Northern Michigan University in 1965 and his doctoral degree from Indiana University in 1971.
Akin was born in New London on May 18, 1937, to George and Esther Akin. He married Kenlynn Mae Heydon on June 25, 1960, in Madison, and were approaching 62 years of togetherness and love prior to his passing.
Akin was also active in many community organizations. He volunteered with the Boy Scouts, Special Olympics, Oshkosh YMCA and the Oshkosh Parks Advisory Committee. He managed Camp Marietta at Lawrence University for many summers. He was very active in Oshkosh churches serving on councils and committees. Akin was also a former president of the UW-Oshkosh National “O” Club. His Breweriana collectible hobby included national memberships, where he frequented conventions often. He was also an active member in the Trout Unlimited group to uphold stream habitat.
Akin’s great love was his dedication to his family. He enjoyed sharing with them America’s West, along with Hawaii & New York City. He also enjoyed immensely the family cottage in Forest County where he fished and hunted. He spent much time fishing trout on the Wolf River and hunted deer and ruffed grouse. Akin was blessed to be able to hunt and fish throughout North America including Alaska, Manitoba, Ontario, Colorado, Wyoming and South Dakota.
With his beloved wife, Kenlynn, Akin traveled to Europe, Mexico, Canada and nearly all the 50 states. They celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary in the Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Parks. Akin also enjoyed gardening, cooking, bonfires, Broadway theaters, sunsets, working with stained glass and quiet family time.
Since his retirement from UW-Oshkosh in 1994, one of Akin’s keen interests was to learn the history of the Oshkosh & Hortonville Breweries. He shared his collections, donating a large collection to the National Breweriana Museum in Potosi. He made many presentations and publications of the history of the Oshkosh Breweries. He also co-authored a sold-out book, “The Breweries of Oshkosh – Their Rise & Fall.”
Akin was preceded in death by his father, George, and his mother, Esther; his in-laws Orland and Alice Heydon; his brother George (Joey) Akin Jr.; and his brother-in-law Charles Kubitz.
Akin is survived by his wife, Kenlynn, and three children – David (Paula) of Rhinelander, Daniel (Judy) of Marshfield and Julie (Peter) Steinert of Kohler. Akin is also survived by his two sisters, Susan (John) Nielsen of Alliance, Ohio, and Carolyn Kubitz of Hilton Head Island, S.C., and several grandchildren.
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