Ronald Wayne Braniff
March 6, 1936-May 6, 2018
Rancho Mirage, California

Ronald Wayne Braniff, 82, of Rancho Mirage, California, passed away on Sunday, May 6, 2018 at home after a brief illness. Born in Hood River, Oregon, to Dorothy Rosella and Hugh Andrew Braniff, he received his Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from Oregon State University. He was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Air Force in 1956 and began active duty at Andrews Air Force Base outside Washington, DC, working on NASA projects, which further sparked his engineering interest. After his honorable discharge, Ron earned an offer from IBM for sales training that required him to work in the Pittsburgh, PA office. Ron turned the offer down and instead drove across the country in his Triumph to knock on the doors of IBM in Silicon Valley with a desire to live and work in San Francisco. He was offered an IBM sales training position and began his rewarding corporate career in 1963 as a sales representative in the data processing division, selling IBM punched card accounting machines and 1401 series computers. In 1966, Ron joined Tymshare, a company selling computer time and software packages for users on the SDS/XDS 940 computers. He settled in Portola Valley, CA and later Woodside, CA. He spent a total of 18 years at Tymshare as the VP of Sales and Marketing and head of the computer services division. In 1984, Ron became President and CEO of ASK Computer Systems, Inc. where he served until 1992, electing to spend the next 15 years consulting and investing in software start-ups. Ron spent a lifetime enjoying jazz, playing tennis, cooking, traveling and driving his Porsche. He is survived by his wife Carlotta Jane Braniff, his brother Jerry Braniff and sister Patricia Trotman, his children Shannon Braniff of San Rafael, Kristin Gettinger (Jon) of Seattle, Washington, and Ryan Braniff (Ali) of Menlo Park, his grandchildren Alyssa Mulligan, Simone Gettinger, Johanna Gettinger and Ryder Braniff and his former wife Suzanne Braniff of Half Moon Bay. Please see below for Memorial Service information.

Tags: veteran, business