Ralph was born to the third of his father’s wives, as each of the first two had died shortly after the births of a couple of his older siblings. In fact, some of his older brothers and sisters had already left home by the time Ralph was born.
The family moved to Oakley when Ralph was about one and a half. He was essentially a pioneer there, clearing sagebrush and planting trees with his father and brothers as he grew. He is said to have been a dead shot with a flipper and sling and small varmints avoided him. Larger varmints, coyotes for instance, were scared off by the scarecrows he and his brothers made and stationed around the property.
Ralph played on the South Summit High School basketball team all four years. As a senior the team took their division and went to the state tournament. He was also the student body president in 1921-22 and sang bass in quartets and choruses.
He was called to and served in the Southern States Mission, mostly in the Alabama Conference. He gave his oldest son the middle name of Sterling, because one of his companions was Sterling W. Sill.
When he returned, he married Ida Naoma Laney, a high school classmate who had waited for him, on 4 September 1925.
Back in Oakley, Ralph made $2.50 a day as a foreman on Rob Young’s Ranch, and it wasn’t your eight-hour a day, five days a week job. In June of 1929 (Ralph was 26), he was ordained the Bishop of the Oakley ward. He served there for five years (age 31), until they split the stake and he was called as the second counselor in the new South Summit Stake Presidency. He was set apart in this calling by his former mission president, who was then an apostle. He became the first counselor to a new Stake President in 1938, set apart by Joseph Fielding Smith. He continued as first counselor to another president in 1942, set apart by President George Albert Smith. Then in February 1954 Ralph became the President of the South Summit Stake, serving until 1971 (for a total of 37 years in the Stake Presidency). He offered one of the prayers at the afternoon session of General Conference in April 1964. He was later made a patriarch and served in that calling until his health would no longer allow it.
In addition to his family and church duties, Ralph served on the school board, helped organize the Kamas Valley Livestock Show, served as the Lion’s Club President and as Director of the Weber Basin Water Conservancy District. He received the Silver Beaver Award from the Boy Scouts of America on February 12, 1968. His son Sterling and son-in-law Howard Hall also earned the Silver Beaver.
Ralph was not easily provoked and was always a calm and cool-headed influence. I recall him always calling me (and the other grandchildren) “pal” and when he said it, you really felt like you were his pal.
I stolen most of this from a more complete biography written by Florence Saxton (a sister). There is also a recording of him talking about his life that he gave at a fireside in Orem.
