Ronald Parsons Rioux, a teacher of math and science abroad for many years, enjoyed celebrating life, exploring the beauty of nature, and discovering different countries, his family said. Formerly of East Hampton, he appreciated special moments and good food, and enjoyed reading, hiking, bike riding, and fishing on Gardiner’s Bay.
Music was a passion, especially that of the Beatles, Led Zeppelin, and Pink Floyd, and he had a lifelong interest in learning and a love for the wilderness of Iceland and Montana. But “his greatest love was for his family,” and he was “the best dad and granddad in the world,” his family said.
Mr. Rioux, who was called Ron, died of cancer on May 19 in Dubuque, Iowa. He was 78.
Born in Southampton on July 9, 1946, to Ronald Pierpont Rioux and the former Lillian Parsons, he grew up on Three Mile Harbor Road in East Hampton and later Conklin Terrace in the village. His father served as both a village mayor and a town supervisor.
He graduated from East Hampton High School in 1964 and studied for a year at Bucknell University in Pennsylvania before returning to the South Fork and earning a bachelor’s degree in philosophy from Southampton College. He served in the Navy from 1968 to 1972.
He later earned a master’s degree in hydrology from the University of New Hampshire and a teaching license from Montana State University.
Mr. Rioux worked as a hydrologist for the United States Geological Survey, and then taught science, math, and English for the Department of Defense Education Activity in Augsburg, Bad Aibling, and Garmisch, Germany, from 1983 to 2009. He was an adjunct professor of mathematics at Divine Word College in Epworth, Iowa, in 2020.
Before moving to Dubuque 11 years ago, the places he lived included Billings, Helena, and Bozeman, Mont., Gaeta, Italy, and Keflavik, Iceland.
Mr. Rioux was married on Sept. 9, 1985, to Eva-Maria Wagner, who survives. He is also survived by two daughters, Annika Rioux of Weimar, Germany, and Dr. Yasmin Rioux, and her husband, Peter Knutson, of Dubuque. He leaves four grandchildren, Noah Rioux, Maia Rioux, Magdalena Knutson, and Ezekiel Knutson, and a sister, Yvonne Walsh, and her husband, Timothy Walsh, of Millbrook, N.Y.
An earlier marriage to Lynn Scully ended in divorce.
