Ralph Conrad McKay, Sr., was born on January 30, 1932, in the small Louisiana country town of Bastrop, a bit north of Monroe, where he would later grow up. Ralph left this earthly realm to be with his deceased loved ones on September 6, 2021.
Ralph was the fifth child, and last surviving, of eight children from the Charles Alexander McKay and Margaret Oliver McKay family. His life and his work would eventually take him and his family from his home town beginnings to travels all over the world. Ralph enjoyed his final chapter in life by living close to relatives and friends in Cypress, TX.
Ralph grew up with his family on Orange Street, just off Jackson in South Monroe, LA. Everyone knows that if that old house could talk, it would have thousands of epic McKay stories to tell. He attended Ouachita High School where he lettered in sports, began his involvement in the ROTC, and was a strong student. After graduation, he went down the road to Northeast Louisiana State University (ULM) to get his BS in Business. Ralph used his degree to embark upon a lifelong career in the Business Computing field, now known as IT, that was literally in its infancy when he began. In addition, Ralph made use of his ROTC background to begin his Army service as Captain in the Army Military Police at Ft Gordon, Georgia, where in 1954 he relocated his young family that included Lillian and Ralph, Jr. One assignment he was given while at Ft Gordon that he liked to tell tales about was when he had the pleasure of working the Masters Tournament at the nearby Augusta National Golf Club. After two years of active duty, Ralph won the 1957-1958 Humble Oil and Refining Fellowship in Accounting that started him on his MBA at LSU Baton Rouge. Ralph then moved back to Monroe and was named the college auditor at Northeast while working on his MBA from LSU.. While in Monroe, Ralph and Lillian added Janet and John to their growing family. Eventually the young family landed in New Orleans in 1961, where Ralph began to focus on his IT career with Southern Bell. Scott was added to the clan in 1963, while they were living in Metairie. Ralph then took his family to Charlottesville, VA, where he worked for the University of Virginia in their business office and was an ROTC program instructor. While in Virginia, Ralph was offered and took a position in Payroll Systems with the University of Houston. The family packed up and moved to Sharpstown in 1966 where they would settle down, for a while. After all his kids graduated from Sharpstown High School, Ralph took a position in 1983 with Aramco Services. This job would take him and Lillian to Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, where after several years, he eventually was convinced to retire amidst Scud missile fire and combat caused by the first Gulf War happening in his neighborhood. One cool thing Ralph did while he lived in Saudi Arabia was to coach the Aramco Little League team all the way to the 1987 Far East bracket of the Little League World Series. After the desert, Ralph and Lillian relocated to Austin where Ralph worked for the city. He would retire again, permanently, and settle in Cypress, TX. Ralph and Lillian would stay in Cypress for the remainder of their lives minus a brief period when they moved to Allen, TX, to help and be with Scott and his family as Scott’s health declined. Ralph suffered the great loss of his youngest son, Scott William McKay on July 16, 2005. Over the course of his family life, Ralph also lost Lillian Isabel LeBlanc McKay, his beloved wife of 60 years, on December 7, 2013.
Ralph is survived by his children Ralph Conrad McKay Jr., of Marfa, TX, Janet Susan McKay Jabsen of Bayou Vista, TX, John Bryan McKay of Houston, TX, daughter-in-law, Wendy McKay-Fairley; his eight grandchildren - Tara, Nicole, Travis, Courtney, Tyler, Kevin, Adrianna, and Carson and five great grandchildren - Levi, Samantha, Cash, Carter, and Olivia.
We would like to thank the caring staff at The Addington Place of Cy-Fair and Featherland Hospice for providing Ralph with great care and a loving home for the last year.
A visitation for Ralph will be held Monday, September 20, 2021 from 10:00 AM to 12:00 PM at American Heritage Funeral Home, 10710 Veterans Memorial Drive, Houston, TX 77038. A funeral service will occur Monday, September 20, 2021 from 12:00 PM to 12:45 PM, 10710 Veterans Memorial Drive, Houston, TX 77038. A committal service will occur Monday, September 20, 2021 from 1:00 PM to 1:30 PM at Houston National Cemetery, 10410 Veterans Memorial Drive, Houston, TX 77038.
Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.AmericanHeritageFuneralHome.com for the McKay family.
COMPARTA UN OBITUARIO
v.1.9.5