Rona (Robertson) Guggemos

Rona (Robertson) Guggemos, 56, of Chandler, Arizona, passed away at home from cancer on May 1, 2026, comforted by her husband and sons.

Rona was born in Redondo Beach, California and raised in the dairy community of Bellflower surrounded by family, friends, and horses. At every opportunity she would ride her beloved Rock Hopper bike along the San Gabriel River to Seal Beach to enjoy the warm beach sands with friends. She was often found with her family’s horses, gently grooming one and then riding to Taco Bell drive through. Rona loved the beach, horses, bean and cheese burritos yet her passion was softball; she played competitively in California, Japan, Illinois, and Arizona treating every game as if it were the championship final.

Rona was disciplined, beautiful, intelligent, driven. At 19, Rona joined the U.S. Navy to experience the world beyond Southern California. In 1990 and 91 she learned Russian at the famed Defense Language Institute where she met her future husband, Mike ‘Gugg’ Guggemos. She then studied cryptographic technologies at Goodfellow Airforce base intelligence school in San Angelo, Texas; she smiled when the Marines called her out as their ‘token squid’ during daily exercise. Rona and Mike took their vows August 3rd, 1991 in San Angelo in front of a judge and 4 close friends and then a formal church wedding on November 16th, 1991 in Southern California. Texas was intimate, California was extraordinary as it was filled with family, friends, and legendary party just days before she flew to Japan to track submarines across the Sea of Okhotst and the North Pacific Ocean.

While stationed in Japan she was selected to host formal tea ceremonies for visiting Japanese dignitaries, provided intelligence briefings to the Secretary of Defense, climbed Mount Fuji and welcomed her oldest son, Miles, into the world. After completing their enlistments and retuning to the U.S., Rona and Mike moved their growing family to Northern Illinois where they welcomed two more sons, Riley and Cory, before settling in Chandler, Arizona in 1999. Rona pushed herself as an example for her sons. She traveled across Europe with her husband, visited multiple US states camping and fishing with her family, earned her undergraduate and two graduate degrees all while raising a family and volunteering as a VA medical research coordinator, coaching girls high school softball, earning multiple personal training certifications, and becoming a credentialed English teacher. Former athletes and students regularly came up to her in public and thanked her for pushing them to push themselves.

Intensely private, she rarely shared she was in active cancer treatment unless with closest of friends and family. Physically driven, Rona completed dozens of marathons with family and friends after moving to Arizona. She would finish a race, quietly add the new medal to her over flowing collection, and plan for the next. In 2021, two years after her stage 4 diagnosis, Rona and Mike ran her last San Diego Rock and Roll half marathon together. To her last breath she preferred exercise to eating, playing softball to sitting, hiking South Mountain and climbing Mt. Humphries to spa days, long lingering weekend coffees with Gugg and the boys to going out, and privacy over publicity.

Rona is survived by her husband of 35 years, Michael (‘Gugg’, Mike); her sons Miles (Julia), Riley (Isa), and Cory; her grandchildren Jayden, Irene, and Cedric; her parents Lloyd and Lella Robertson of Los Alamitos, California; sister Renee (Mark) and brother Rico (Linnea) also of Los Alamitos, California; multiple nieces, nephews, in laws, friends, and students whom she loved and appreciated.

Celebration of life Wednesday, May 27th, from 5:30-8:00 PM at the Guggemos family home in Chandler, AZ. Thursday, May 28th, Rosary 10:00 AM and Funeral mass 10:30 AM at St. Andrew the Apostle Catholic Church, 3450 West Ray Rd, Chandler, AZ 85226. A short reception will follow funeral services, details will be provided at church.