Lexington, MA — We regret to announce that Ronald D. LaRoche passed away during the evening of Thursday, April 5 at his home in Westford, Massachusetts. In recent weeks he had been under hospice care, following a long bout with bone cancer.

Ron was co-inventor and developer of the well-known BioSolve® Pinkwater product line, an innovative surfactant formulation that became the world’s leading “hydrocarbon mitigation agent”. Mr LaRoche initiated work on the product in the mid- 1970’s and worked through continual refinements until the final formulation was established in the early 1980’s. The product concept was a replacement for sprayed foam used in suppressing volatile vapors and reducing fire hazard associated with fuel spills.

Once Ron saw the performance and market potential of the product, he energetically devoted the rest of his business career to building brand recognition and sales of the BioSolve® product line on a worldwide basis. Along the way, the development of his chemical business, under the name of Westford Chemical Company, was greatly assisted by his son Stephen and by many hard working, capable and innovative distributors.

By the time Ron sold his business to The BioSolve® Company in June of 2010, BioSolve® Pinkwater had become a well-established product for hydrocarbon clean up in emergency spill response, as well as in soil remediation (both in-situ and bioremediation) and numerous areas of industrial maintenance such as tank cleaning and tank degassing, equipment decontamination and surface cleaning.

Following the transaction, Ron remained in contact with the owners of The BioSolve® Company, consulting on a range of matters relating to customers and product applications.

Referring to the passing of his father, son Stephen writes: “I wish to personally thank each and every vendor, distributor, dealer and end user of BioSolve® products over the years for the support and friendship that you shared with Ron, making his live so rewarding and worthwhile.”

Ron leaves behind a large and devoted family including his wife, Sueyo; his two sons Stephen and Ronald; two daughters, Karen and Judy; and four grandchildren. For more information visit https://www.biosolve.com or contact The BioSolve® Company at (781) 482-7900.