Horace Lowell Ralph

Late in the evening of Saturday, February 7, 2026, Horace Lowell Ralph passed from mortality at home surrounded by his wife Ellen, and his daughter Lisa and son-in-law Tom. He was in his 97th year. His posterity includes six children, Sharon (Ernie), Stephen (Kathleen), Brian (Ruth), Donald (Wendy), Lisa (Tom), and Mindy (David), 37 grandchildren, 79 great-grandchildren and three sisters Marian, Judy, and Elaine (Lamar). He was preceded in death by his parents, Horace and Marva, his brother Elwyn, sisters Margaret and Adele.

Lowell was born to Horace Fred and Marva Norton Ralph on August 1, 1929, and raised in Ogden, Utah along with his six siblings. He graduated from Ogden High School in May 1947 and began attending Weber Junior College where he earned an associate degree in May 1949. During that same month, Lowell received a mission call to serve in the Uruguay Montevideo Mission in South America for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. His missionary service, the people, and the language would remain one of his most treasured experiences. Returning home in early 1952, Lowell began attending Brigham Young University in Provo that spring. Eleven days later, Lowell met Ellen Lindsay, and they began dating. A year after their first meeting they became engaged and then married on July 30, 1953, in the Logan Temple.

Just a few months later, Lowell was accepted into the University of Utah Law School. During the next five years, he began law school, was drafted into the U.S. Army during which time the Ralphs spent one-year in Germany. He then returned to the United States and resumed his legal studies. Lowell graduated with his law degree in 1958. After law school, Lowell began working in Salt Lake City. Later he found employment in Ogden, first with the city of Ogden and then with the Utah Army Depot. Lowell, Ellen, and their four children moved to Battle Creek, Michigan when he accepted a transfer within the federal government. Eighteen months later, Lowell joined the Defense Construction Supply Center in Columbus, Ohio where two more children were born.

The Ralphs lived in Ohio for 53 years during which time Lowell served as a scoutmaster, bishop, and counselor in the Columbus Ohio Stake presidency. Upon retiring in 1993, Lowell and Ellen served in the Washington, D.C. temple and fulfilled a mission to the Yucatan peninsula in Mexico. He later served as a counselor in the Columbus Ohio Temple presidency, and as a temple sealer and patriarch. They enjoyed visiting immediate and extended family around the country, participating in family reunions, and traveling outside the United States. In 2019, Lowell and Ellen moved to the Summerfield Retirement community in Orem, Utah where they were living at the time of his passing.

Lowell always greeted family, friends, and even strangers with a smile and a twinkle in his eyes and people sensed his genuine interest in them. He had a life-time passion for speaking, reading, and using his Spanish language. Lowell had fun hiking and camping with family. He loved music, singing and especially playing the ukulele, a skill he developed after he retired. Lowell was a stamp collector and liked the challenge of working on puzzles, especially in his later years. Most of all, he found joy in spending time with Ellen, his children, and grandchildren, all of whom he called his greatest treasure in life. Lowell will be greatly missed, but his family looks forward to a wonderful reunion with him.