Ralph was born on March 3, 1946, in Osceola, Iowa, near where his parents owned a dairy farm. Before Ralph graduated from Mormon Trail High School in 1964, he had a Ham radio license (KTRV) and met Mary, the love of his life. They married in August 1967.

Ralph graduated from the University of Iowa in 1968 with a degree in accounting. While a member of Iowa's ROTC, Ralph obtained a pilot's license and was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the United States Air Force at graduation. Ralph later received his Juris Doctor from the University of Iowa and his Master's of Law from George Washington University.

Ralph served the Air Force as an auditor at Eglin Air Force Base in Florida and later as an attorney at Kirtland Air Force Base in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Ralph's sons, Nicholas and Jim, were born at Kirtland. Ralph left the Air Force as a Captain and became an attorney for the Department of Energy at the Argonne National Laboratory near Chicago.

In 1986, Ralph took a job as Assistant Chief Counsel for the Department of Energy in Idaho Falls. He later served as Chief Counsel.

Ralph retired from the DOE in 2001. In the seven years of his retirement, he and Mary traveled in their camper many months of the year. Ralph and Mary visited almost every national park in the continental United States as well as every province in Canada.

A gathering to celebrate Ralph's life will be held from 2:00 - 4:00 p.m. Friday, October 17, at The Monarch, located at 810 E. Sunnyside Road. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests donations be given in Ralph's name to the University of Iowa Law School Foundation, P.O. Box 4550, Iowa City, Iowa, 52244-4550 or the Development Workshop of Idaho Falls. Condolences may be sent to the family, and a map to the Monarch maybe be found online at www.coltinmortuary.com

Map to the Monarch