Ralph David Swenson

He was born in Chicago, IL on August 19, 1929. Ralph led a very interesting life. He was an Electrical Inspector in Hernando County for over 25 years and an active and proud member of Alcoholics Anonymous. He was "Joyous, Happy and Free" being sober for 44 years. Being young at heart he lived life to the fullest. He had a great sense of humor and loved telling stories with his many friends. He was a very spiritual man, not only praying daily and often, but then living by his faith. Being half Italian, he loved his daughter's Italian cooking and could eat spaghetti every day, which he mostly did. He also enjoyed chewing tobacco daily right up to 2 days before he died. He was a hard worker and loved his family and was very loyal to those he loved and loved him back. As an avid Jeep and gun lover, he built many Jeeps from wheels up and hand carved the stock of many rifles. He was a member of many gun and Jeep clubs over the years. He also built many beautiful ships to scale and generously gave them all away.

The last 4 years of his life he lived alone with the help of his daughter Debbie (Frank), who live in Avon Park, FL and his loving and very special friend, Ellen Isabell from Spring Hill. Living alone was such a challenge for him because he was such a people person, but many of his dear friends called and came to visit often. One of his dear friends called him twice a day. They had a very special bond being friends over 30 years. He was an independent man, intelligent and a perfectionist to a fault. He was also a very stubborn and strong willed man right to the end. He gave his daughter specific directions about his last days and death, such as where he wanted to die and who he wanted to know about his illness and death and those he did not want to know. Sadly he died 3 short weeks before his 94th birthday, which he talked about daily and wanted so much to live and see.

He did it his way

Always

He was a respected and well loved man.

Many whole hearts now have a little hole in them.