Obituary
Ralph Harold Hill passed away on Thursday, January 7th 2016 at the age of 94. A true western hero from North Platt, Nebraska, Ralph loved a short gal and a tall tale. In his youth he was the middleweight Golden Gloves boxing champion of 3 states. Ralph ‘KO’ Hill, they called him! He was a decorated first sergeant in the US Army, where he fought as a tank commander and was wounded saving the lives of three men. For most of his life after WWII, Ralph made his mark as the owner of Hill’s Rancho, the western store and square dance school where he became the best damn square dance caller in all of California. In the 80’s Ralph fell in love with computers, and swore up and down that he invented the game Math Blaster. He never saw a dime. Ralph was married to his childhood sweetheart, Clarrah Arlene Rains for 70 years, and together they had three incredible children. Their kids grew up and became perfect representations of three aspects of his personality: a tough-as-nails cop, a Lockheed mechanic who can fix anything, and a Broadway triple threat. Put them together and there he was. In his retirement, Ralph became the neighborhood philosopher, posting daily proverbs on his golf cart for all the players to contemplate as they worked on their stroke. The man was his own Reader’s Digest. Imagine if he had gotten his hands on a Twitter account. “You are only as happy as you WANT to be.” #mindovermatter. #blessed. Ralph died as he always hoped he would, blissfully holding the hand of a beautiful young girl whose name he did not know.
Leave a reply