Ronald Paul Quake

WELLS – Ronald Paul Quake passed away peacefully at his beloved farm in Wells on June 29, 2025, surrounded by his family including his sons, his wife, Mary Jane and their German Shepherd, Bo. He was 86 years old.

Born in New York City, N.Y., to German immigrant parents and then raised on a dairy farm in upstate New York, Ron embodied the American dream through his determination and ingenuity. He was a first-generation college student who was accepted to Union College on a scholarship and graduated with a BA in economics in 1962, followed by an MS in 1968.

Ron served in the U.S. Army infantry as a radar specialist at an anti-aircraft command in Panama and while he was selected to advance to officer training school, decided to pursue a career in the private sector. His career would span over 35 years and revolutionized how information is accessed and shared. His professional career began at UNIVAC, IBM, SUNY and he also served as Director of Criminal Justice Services for New York State.

Mr. Quake then built a substantial entrepreneurial legacy: his companies anticipated and shaped the digital transformation of information services. In 1976, he founded Bibliographic Retrieval Services, which became one of the earliest online text searching services for university and corporate libraries. The service revolutionized medical research by allowing doctors and researchers instant access to scholarly articles from terminals in universities and hospitals nationwide and was widely used for decades.

Ron founded Enable Software in 1984, which developed one of the first integrated office suites for personal computers and became the leading software used by the federal government and had over a million users world-wide before being sold to Microsoft. He also founded JRS, Inc. in 1989, creating bedside clinical information systems that automated patient care documentation in hospitals which participated in the widespread digitization of healthcare records.

Ron was actively engaged in the community including serving for 20 years in the Kennebunk Rotary including serving as president as well as mentoring local entrepreneurs through non-profit organization SCORE. He was also involved supporting numerous charities including Maine animal hospitals, food banks, a cancer research center and an animal sanctuary. He was also supportive of Union College who he felt gave him a proper start in his career.

Ron was a maverick who greatly valued his independence and was voracious reader. He was devoted to his family and a very present father and grandfather which included passing along a contagious passion for fun. Ron took great joy in his four grandchildren, who brought him immense happiness in his retirement years. This included many days with his grandchildren playing golf, poker at the kitchen table, walking his land, attending sporting events and making the most of local amusement parks.

Ron will be deeply missed by his loved ones including friends and family.

Mr. Quake is survived by his first wife, Edith (Walter) Quake, his second wife, Mary Jane (Carino) Quake; two sons from his first marriage, Stephen, a professor at Stanford University, and Jeffrey, a private equity investor; and four grandchildren, Antonia Zoe Quake, Theo Quake, Tyler Quake and Avery Quake.

Relatives and friends are invited to attend a service to be held at 10:30 a.m. on July 26 at the South Congregational Church in Kennebunkport, located at 2 North St., Kennebunkport, ME 04046. There will also be a reception immediately following at the Nonantum Resort located at 95 Ocean Ave., Kennebunkport, ME 04046.

To share a memory or leave a message of condolence please visit Ronald’s Book of Memories Page at http://www.bibberfuneral.com.
Arrangements are in the care of Bibber Memorial Chapel, 67 Summer St., Kennebunk, ME 04043.