Dr. Ralph Joseph Stoudt Jr.

Dr. Ralph Joseph Stoudt, Jr. died in Charlottesville on Friday, October 28, 2016. He was 88.Of Pennsylvania Dutch heritage, Ralph was born in Reading, Pennsylvania in 1928, the only child of Ralph Joseph Stoudt, Sr. and Anna Thompson Stoudt. Valedictorian of his Frenchtown High School class, he graduated from Albright College in 1950 and attended Princeton Theological Seminary.While in Virginia working for the Boy Scouts, he met Barbara Ann Holmes of Marion. They married and both pursued graduate degrees at the University of Michigan. After receiving his doctorate, Ralph joined the faculty of Vanderbilt University School of Medicine for two years before coming to Charlottesville in 1966. He became an Associate Professor of speech pathology and audiology at the University of Virginia and remained on the faculty until 1995. A favorite professor for many, he also served as President of the Speech-Language-Hearing Association of Virginia from 1970-71 and consulted for St Elizabeth's Hospital in Washington.For over four decades, Ralph was active member of First Presbyterian Church on Park Street, serving as an elder, on numerous committees, and was instrumental in bringing assisted listening devices to the congregation. Ralph and Barbara attended the Montreat Youth Conference in North Carolina for a number of years and cherished their time there.Ralph is survived by daughters, Charlotte Stoudt and Dorothy DeCesare; son-in-law, Peter DeCesare; three grandchildren, Nina, Dominic, and Anton DeCesare; and granddaughter-in-law, Penny DeCesare.A memorial service to celebrate his life will be held at First Presbyterian Church on Sunday, November 13, 2016,at 2 p.m. The family will receive friends on Saturday, November 12, 2016,at 5 p.m. at Teague Funeral Home, 2260 Ivy Road, Charlottesville.In lieu of flowers, contributions can be made to Montreat Youth Conference, care of Montreat Conference Center, P.O. Box 969, Montreat, NC 28757.