Fr. Robert Joseph Ronald went to the Lord peacefully on Jan 2nd, 2009 at 7:51 a.m. at Cardinal Tien Hospital, Taipei. 

Fr. Ronald came to Taiwan in 1957. He initially came to study Chinese, but after one year he contracted polio, which was very common in Taiwan at the time. Because of the disease, he was wheelchair-bound for the rest of his life. However, this did not stop him from making a substantial contribution to the community in Taiwan.

In 1971, he started work as a consultant for vocational rehabilitation at Taipei Veterans General Hospital and continued there for 31 years. He also started Operation De-Handicap with a friend in 1974 and began work in psycho-social counseling, a form of counseling to help the disabled maintain their mental stability.

For his medical contributions to Taiwan, Fr. Ronald was awarded the Prestigious Medical Contribution Award in 2003 by former Department of Health minister Chen Chien-jen.