Friday, January 13, 2023
Ralph and I met when he attended EMVTI (now EMCC). One of his required courses that first semester was College Composition 101 and I was his instructor. To this day I can picture him. Tall, blond, handsome and always wearing a red baseball cap. He would saunter into class just seconds before being officially late and head directly to the last row of seats. It was obvious he did not want to be there. Since his writing skills, vocabulary and sense of humor were superior to his counterparts, I like to think it wasn’t College Comp that turned him off but higher education in general.
Had Ralph continued his studies with us, he and I would have once again lived the teacher-student life; however, that was not to be.
Some years passed before I traded my red pens for a real estate calculator and hung my newly acquired license at ERA Dawson. Imagine my surprise to learn I would get to work with this smart and fun young man!
To say that Ralph was adept at multitasking would be a gross understatement. For years he handled bookkeeping, accounting, payroll, taxes, staff hiring and firing and training. He managed rental properties for the company. He wrote commission checks. He mentored new agents. He mediated broker disagreements. Indeed, his red cap was but one of many hats he wore.
His writing skills were readily apparent to all. In the office he could send out a memo about a topic as mundane as a plumbing problem and have recipients riveted to his words and convulsing at his phrasing.
Ralph was a very private person; colleagues got very few glimpses into his life outside the office. The one topic he might bring up would be his children. An obviously proud father, Ralph loved them deeply.
Like many people Ralph had his demons. Unlike many people he couldn’t seem to find or wasn’t willing to accept help. He struggled.
After his work in real estate ended, I lost track of him, which I regret. Calls and texts went unanswered.
During those decades of working together, we had talked. We laughed. We shared “inside jokes” and private nicknames for others. We trusted each other. We were friends. I will miss him. I will remember him.
My thoughts and prayers are with his family.
