He is preceded in death by his wife of 64 years, Rosalie Melville, his brothers Frank and John Melville, and sister Dorothy Mongold.
He is survived by his children, daughter Marla (Jay) Rasco of Kansas City, MO; daughter Joyce (Wayne) Roberts of Kansas City, MO, and son Larry (Tina) of Camdenton, MO. He also leaves 7 grandchildren, and 10 great-grandchildren.
Ralph grew up in Springfield, MO. One of his first jobs was delivering telegrams in the city. He delivered them by bicycle. Later he had a motorized bike, called a Whizzer in which he rode to deliver the telegrams. In his later years he built his own version of that bike when he was in his 80's. He was a mechanic at heart, but also assisted his Dad in his paper and painting business while he was in high school. Upon graduation, he moved to St. Louis, MO and worked for a bakery for a time, but then returned to Springfield to marry his sweetheart, Rosalie West, on July 8, 1950.
They were only married a year when the Korean War broke out and he was called up for duty. He served our nation in the Army from May 22, 1951 to May 2, 1953. He was in the 10th Infantry Division from Fort Riley, KS. After coming home from the war, he and Rosalie moved to Kansas City, MO where he was employed by a machine shop called Bensons. He worked there until he was hired by Trans World Airlines in 1964, where he worked as a sheet metal mechanic at the overhaul base until he retired in 1993. He was meticulous in all he did and received many Awards of Excellence and perfect attendance awards.
Scripture says,"...by love serve one another." After receiving Christ as his savior in 1987, he went on to use those talents to serve His Lord at Antioch Bible Baptist church and later Metro Baptist Church. He also served his family well, using those abilities to show us love by building playhouses, wooden cars for Awana Grand Prix races and remote control planes for the grandkids and also keeping our cars and washing machines, etc. working and fixing whatever was broken in the home.
In Lieu of flowers, Memorial Donations may be sent In honor of Ralph to
Friends of Parkville Animal
1356 MO-9
Parkville, MO 64152
816-587-0918
https://www.parkvilleshelter.com/product-page/memorial-donation
