Ramón Ulloa Tobar of Wilmington, Delaware passed away peacefully on June 5, 2026 at the age of 92.
Simply put, Ramón was the epitome of the “American Dream.” He was born in Valdivia, Chile on April 14, 1934 to Lidia and Luis Tobar as the oldest of four children, and later three half-siblings. While Ramón was a fun-loving and at times mischievous child, his life was turned upside down at the age of 6 when his mother died during childbirth. Ramón was forced to grow up fast, as his family did not have ample means and even meals were not always a certainty. Through perseverance, hard work, and determination, Ramón became the first member of his family to go to college, graduating with the equivalent of a Master’s degree in Chemistry from the University of Chile.
Following college graduation, Ramón spent a short time as an organic chemistry professor at the Universidad Austral de Chile, and then as a pharmacist for the Anaconda Copper Company, located in the Atacama Desert in northern Chile, the driest place on earth. It was there that he met the love of his life, Karla Struck Tobar, who had taken a job as a teacher for the company’s expat children. Although at the time, Ramón spoke only a little English and Karla only a little Spanish, they were both fluent in the “universal language of love” and married within a year of meeting, subsequently enjoying nearly 60 happy years of romance and shared adventures.
The couple moved to the States when Ramón took a position as a teaching fellow in the chemistry department at the University of Michigan. However, with a first child on the way, and a more urgent need to make money, Ramón accepted a position as a research chemist with the DuPont company in Wilmington, Delaware. It wasn’t long thereafter that he made a significant impact in the lab – credited as the inventor of two U.S. patents awarded to the company. He later played a pivotal role in significantly expanding DuPont’s business throughout Latin America.
Known to his family as “Moncho,” Ramón was especially proud of becoming a naturalized U.S. citizen. His friends relentlessly quizzed him on American history to help him pass the citizenship test (and also convinced him that he would have to be processed through Ellis Island, even though it had closed decades earlier).
Although he was always good natured about it, Moncho was perpetually teased by his family for butchering English. Ramón’s unique turns-of-phrase were lovingly coined “Moncho-isms.” Among the family’s favorite examples: “I just took a shower and I feel fresh as a lettuce;” “I have one thing to say, and that is two things;” in relating the story of a friend who was the victim of identity theft, he proclaimed, “They stole her personality!” And after asking a waitress for recommendations in a restaurant and hearing her respond “Most people like the chicken pot pie,” he stated, “I am not most people.”
Between Karla’s job as a travel agent and his own international responsibilities with DuPont, Ramón traveled the world extensively. He visited over 100 countries for both work and pleasure. On one trip to England, he paid (not a small amount) to become a member of the Royal Horticultural Society.When confronted with the reality that he was neither interested in plants nor gardening, his reply was… “Yes, that’s true, but one day it will sound impressive in my obituary.”So here it is… he was a member of Her Majesty’s Royal Horticultural Society!
Ramón enjoyed spending weekends sailing on the Chesapeake Bay and later entertaining at his second home in Rock Hall, Maryland where he hosted parties with Karla featuring chili cook-offs, scavenger hunts, and marathon steamed crab lunches on the screened porch.
He loved sports and played for the Delaware Saengerbund Kickers soccer team, once scoring 5 goals in a single game. He was an avid follower of the Chilean national soccer team and traveled to their World Cup games in France, Germany, South Africa and Brazil. He was also a big fan of University of Michigan sports, as well as the Green Bay Packers.In fact, he owned one share of the team’s stock, technically making him an owner of the Packers! During his retirement years, Ramón played a lot of golf and enjoyed telling people he was the best Chilean golfer in the world. At the time, he was pretty certain that nobody else from Chile even played golf.
In 2016, Ramón began yet another new chapter of life as a resident of the ACTS Country House, where he enjoyed the company of many great friends, both longstanding and newly made. He was especially fond of their Friday afternoon happy hour and was proud to hold the record for perfect attendance.
Moncho was a loving and fiercely devoted husband, father, and grandfather, who in turn was adored by his family and will be profoundly missed. He was predeceased by his wife Karla after 59 years of marriage. He is survived by his sons and daughters-in-law, Peter Luis (Lee Clements), and Richard Ulloa (Anne Gallagher), and five grandchildren, Caro, Laura, Philip, Rex, and Berkeley Tobar.
To paraphrase a Moncho-ism, Ramón Tobar was definitely not most people.
A private graveside service will be held for immediate family. The family suggests donations of sympathy be made in Ramón’s name to the Country House Residents’ Fund for Employee Appreciation, or to your own preferred charity.
For online condolences visit: www.mccreryandharra.com
