Ron Bechtel ’82

Ron Bechtel ’82 is a program director at 70×7 Life Recover in Holland, Michigan, a ministry that teaches people with felonies how to do life better and places them in a job with one of more than 30 partner employers. He trains the mentors who help the participants succeed and directs the work of case managers and teachers in Holland, Grand Haven and Allegan, Michigan. This past May and June, Ron walked the 500-mile Camino Frances pilgrimage from St. Jean Pied-a-Port in France across Spain to Santiago de Compostella. In September, Ron and his wife, Maya, will celebrate the first birthday of their first granddaughter, Elizabeth Ann, Hope College Class of 2037, daughter of Brant Bechtel ’14 and Emily Martinez ’15 Bechtel. He is pictured with Cynthia Slagter of the Spanish Department at Calvin College. He started a conversation with a young person walking beside him and she turned out to be a Calvin student, and then he met the whole Calvin crew (20 students walking a portion of the trail) when they all stopped in Manjarin.