Albert Ralph

Al Ralph ended his adventure on earth on March 4th in Wrightsville Beach, North Carolina, just three days shy of his 87th birthday. Al’s adventure started on March 7, 1932, when he was born in Deaconess Hospital, Evansville, IN. He was adopted when he was three days old by Ralph and Victoria Ralph. After many moves, including attending five different fifth grade classes in one year, Al graduated from high school in Coolidge, AZ. He went on to Arizona State to study marketing and management. Al joined ROTC and was commissioned into the Air Force when he graduated.

Al’s first marriage, right out of college in 1953 was to Pat Thornton. He spent the next four years in the service where he became a navigator/bombardier. Following his service, they moved to Chicago where he launched his sales career selling copy machines for 3M. One day, he tripped over a fork truck while making a sales call, and he ended up selling heavy equipment for Clark Forklift. Before he was done, he owned all, or part of the Clark Forklift dealerships in Dallas, New Orleans, Augusta, Columbus and Macon, GA.

While buying and selling dealerships he also changed wives a few times. Al and his first wife, Pat, were parents to Mark, Kim and Leslie. He later married Charla Alberta Claussen in 1965 and together they adopted Phil. He married his third wife, Sybil in 1976, and in April of 1984 he married Jacky in North Myrtle Beach, SC.

Al enjoyed playing golf, a hobby he picked up while in the Air Force. He truly enjoyed the game and came into his fourth marriage with a 9 handicap. He had the opportunity to play in some pro-am tournaments over the years and enjoyed playing with pros like Fuzzy Zoeller and meeting celebrities, including Jackie Gleason. While living in Augusta, GA, Al got to play Augusta National and attended the Master’s tournament every year.

When Al got out of the business of owning Clark dealerships, he went to work for Denny Boyce, managing Wilmington, NC, for Industrial Truck, and eventually managing Charlotte. From there he put in a brief stint at Western Carolina, in Hickory, and then got into the wholesale forklift business starting R & R Equipment Co., Inc. with his wife Jacky. He was still in the fork truck business when he died. God must have needed a really good salesman.

Al taught all four of his wives to play golf. He also taught three of them to play bridge, giving up on the fourth one who said, absolutely not!

Al was a good storyteller and enjoyed entertaining his friends with his stories. He was a life long Cub fan and really enjoyed that the Cubs, finally, after all those years, won the series! Al was also a die-hard Cowboy fan, having lived in Dallas when the Cowboys got their start. He enjoyed Purdue athletics, and enjoyed taking part in the Downtown Gridiron Club. He was an Elk and a member of West Lafayette Golf and Country Club.

Al leaves behind his wife Jacky, and four children: Mark (Shelia) Ralph of Valley View, TX; Kim Yazell of Trinidad, TX; Leslie (Kevin) Likens of Farmers Branch, TX; Phil (Dena) Ralph of the Eastern Shores, VA; and 3 grandchildren, Ryon Yazell of Lewisville, TX, and Maddie and McKenzie Ralph of Virginia Beach, VA.

He also leaves behind two stepchildren, Krystal (Doug) Sigman and Kenny (Cheryl) Kerker, five step-grandchildren, Kayla (Tim) Nichols, Taylor (Thran) Bixler; Karra Kerker; Shelby (Cody) Hornaday; and Kortny Kerker, all of West Lafayette, IN, except for Shelby and Cody who live in Loogootee, IN.

There will be a celebration of Al’s life on March 23, 2:00, in the lounge, at Seapath Towers, 322 Causeway Drive, Wrightsville Beach, NC 28480.

There will be a celebration of his life in West Lafayette, IN, Sunday, April 7, 2019 at 2pm at West Lafayette Golf and Country Club (Elks).