Family Friday's 4-2-10 My Father

Our party is hosted by Lori @ the Peterson Family.  Check out all the other posts and read about their families.

Today I'm posting about my father Ralph Earnest born 2-5-1924 and passed away 6-7-1992.

Dad was born in Missouri and is the youngest of 8

 children.  The earliest picture is one of him taken around 1926, he is outside with his dog Jack.

This sibling picture shows Dad with his brothers and sisters taken in around 1931.  Dad is the youngest on the right.

My Dad worked on the farm and went  to school through the 8th grade.  He had to quit school the next year and help out on the farm.  This is a picture of him at age 8.

In 1943 he enlisted in the Army/Navy to fight in World War II.  He was going to be a pilot but was grounded because of a heart murmer.  He was so dissapointed but the military trained him to be a radio tower operator.  He served in Alaska most of his tour in Anchorage AFB.  The following pictures of him during the service.While he was in Alaska he got to ski, one thing you could never do in Missouri.

He met my Mom in 1946 after his tour.  It's so funny, he was dating my Aunt Ruby at the time and my Mom walked in and he thought she was beautiful.  He started dating my Mom and they were married only after a few months.  Guess who my Aunt Ruby married--my Dad's brother Uncle Floyd.

My Dad could build anything, this is a picture of him next to a barn he built on the farm.

Looks like Dad was taking a break and goin fishin in this pic.

My Mom and Dad left Missouri in 1951 and moved to Kansas City. I was born in 1947 and my sister Kathy was born in 1951.  Dad went to Electricans school and became an electrician and co-owned an Electric Company until he retired.  They also had 2 other children Debbie born in 1952 and Lori born in 1961.

This is a favorite pic of Dad and me.

Dad was always active in church as a deacon and loved the lake.  We had a cabin at a lake resort that he built in the late 1950's. 

He worked until he was 65 and retired from the electric company.  My parents retired and moved to the country.  This picture was taken in 1991 a year before he passed away from lung cancer.

He was a sweet soul and loved his girls (all of his children were girls).  He would loved to have lived much longer but  was  called home to Heaven at an early age of 69.  My Dad was given a full military funeral and I was given the flag that draped his casket, being the oldest child.  The case sits atop of my china cabinet.

Hope you all enjoyed the history of my Dad.

Ann