Ronald Lash Jr; owned chain of tattoo parlors
Hyfler/Rosner
Living like a rock star, Electric Chair owner dies in bike
crash
CLIO
THE FLINT JOURNAL
CLIO - A fast-living local businessman who parlayed his
passions into a chain of tattoo parlors died Saturday after
a late-night motorcycle crash on I-75.
Ronald Lash Jr. owned Electric Chair Tattoo in Clio, Flint
and Bay City.
On his way home from a Motley Crue concert just before
midnight Friday, Lash's motorcycle went out of control on
northbound I-75 south of Holly Road and struck construction
equipment.
Lash died of internal injuries hours later at Genesys
Regional Medical Center in Grand Blanc Township. He was 37.
Grand Blanc Township police say high speed and alcohol may
have been factors.
Lash, well-known and popular, lived on the edge, his family
said Saturday.
Between his motorcycle riding, tattoo parlors and passion
for live music, said his brother, Rob, Lash "was like a rock
star who wasn't a rock star."
Starting in the early nineties and purchasing the Clio
parlor for just $500, he built up the popular tattoo and
body piercing shops into a large family.
"He was very creative and would only pick the
top-of-the-line people to work for him," Rob Lash said. "He
found talent, and if he found a true talent he didn't charge
them, he paid them to learn. Business-wise he didn't settle
for less."
Lash was known throughout the county as a free-spirited man
with an outrageous personality.
"He was, hands down, probably the most popular guy in the
county," said close friend and former employee Don Stevens.
"He's a pretty big legend.
"When he walked into the room, everyone waited to see what
he would say next," Rob Lash said.
But there was a gentle side to the weightlifting biker. He
loved animals, children, traveling and was an overprotective
big brother.
"He was the biggest softy," Rob Lash said. "If an animal
died, he would have a funeral and cry. It blew everybody's
mind how far he went."
Lash had a horse farm in Clio and owned about four dogs, but
his home wouldn't be complete without a saloon for friends
to gather and play pool.
He served in the U.S. Navy for two years after high school
as a crane operator.
Rob Lash said his brother was working on taming his wild
side and embracing adulthood at the time of his death.
"He knew it, and he was trying to stop, and this whole last
year he's really tried to clean up his act," he said. "It
was just such a shocker."
Lash also leaves wife, Rebecca; son, Joseph; stepson, Zakk
Dekalita; stepdaughter, Alyssa McPeek; brother, Ryan;
sisters, Kimi Everett and Kathi Charvat; father Ronald Sr.;
mother, Sheila, and grandfather Theodore Lash.
Visitation will be from 1-9 p.m. Monday and Tuesday, with
the funeral at 2 p.m. Wednesday at O'Guinn Family Funeral
Home in Clio. Burial will be in Thetford Township Cemetery.