Dr. Ronald Stringer, a Mililani dentist who did volunteer work in the Dominican Republic, The Democratic Republic of Congo (formerly Zaire), and Nepal, died Oct. 11 of a rare neurological disease in Honolulu. He was 56.

Stringer was born in Berkeley, Calif., and moved to Hono-lulu in 1974 to complete his residency at St. Francis Medical Center. He met and married his wife, Linda Wong, started a family and began a private practice.

In 1979, Stringer joined the Christian Medical Society on a missionary trip to the Dominican Republic where patients walked for hours to the schoolyard clinic where he did dental work.

In the late 1980s, he and his wife signed on as mission co-workers with the Presbyterian Church (USA), and with their three children headed to Zaire where he was the only American-trained dentist within a radius of 500 miles. Stringer taught and trained local dentists.

In July 1991, the family returned to Hawai'i and Stringer earned a master's in public health from the University of Hawai'i-Manoa.

He next worked with the Community Development Health Program under the United Mission to Nepal, and later served as chief of the dental department at Kathmandu Patan Hospital. He wrote oral healthcare guidelines and a training manual, and participated in the first joint conference of the World Dental Federation and Nepal Oral Health Society in 1997. The family returned to Hawai'i in 1999.

Stringer is survived by his wife, Linda; son, Daniel; daughters, Cheryl and Amy; mother, Beverly Stone; brothers, Philip and Paul; and sister, Cheryl Vivers.

Services will be held at 6:30 p.m. Oct. 28 at Kalihi Union Church, with visitation beginning at 4:30 p.m.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the River of Life Mission.