Eulogy by Gus Myers

 We are here to celebrate Ralph Lawrence Soukup who was born March 8, 1943 in Garrison, North Dakota. He grew up with 5 brothers who he loved to wrestle with all the time and 9 sisters who he would constantly tease. During his life, he had several jobs or careers - a farm hand; military welder; carpenter; warehouseman and machinist. For the last 6 years, he was employed by B/E Aerospace as a machinist and these were some of his happiest working years.

 I came to know Ralph in 1971 when my wife, Dona, our 13 month old son, Jimmy, and I came to Tucson to visit my wife's mother, Dorothy. She had introduced us to him as a friend whom she had met at one of her favorite hang outs, the Third Base, where he challenged her to a game of pool. We liked him immediately because of his sense of humor and how he enjoyed playing with our son, but mostly because of how he treated my mother-in-law. He and Dorothy played pool for many, many years after that. 

 When their relationship became serious and he wanted to make a lifetime commitment to her, Dorothy tried to discourage him because she was unable to have any more children which she thought he wanted, especially since he was a good deal younger than she. Ralph convinced her that having children wasn't that important to him especially since she had three daughters already from a previous marriage and several grandchildren at the time that he enjoyed being around. Dorothy and Ralph were married in Las Cruces, New Mexico on December 15, 1975 and eventually, Dorothy (or Nonnie as all her grandchildren and great-grandchildren called her), was blessed with a total of 7 grandchildren and many great-grandchildren which Ralph quickly became grandpa to all of them - they called him Ralphie.

 After we were transferred back to Tucson, we lived for a short time with Nonnie and Ralphie on two different occasions which brought us all very close - so much so that we bought a house right around the corner from them. Our children, Jim and Lori Beth developed a very special bond with Ralphie, especially since he was the only grandfather either of them really knew. At Christmas or birthday time, Ralphie would be up very late at night sometimes, helping me assemble toys, and would often complain that the directions were created for people with an engineering degree, but he took such pleasure in seeing a young boy jump for joy over receiving a Hot Wheels bike with fancy decals on Christmas morning or hearing a young girl's excited squeals as she finds a swing set completely set up in her back yard on the morning of her 5th birthday. 

 We shared many holidays and special occasions with them and a lot of Ralphie's brothers, sisters, cousins, their spouses and their children over the years, and we have so many wonderful memories of those times. We also went on several vacations with them to the White Mountains, Mt. Shasta, Oregon and Patagonia Lake to name a few. Hardly a week went by that we weren't having dinner at their house or ours (Ralph knew how to cook the perfect medium-rare steak) or playing a few round of Hearts or Pinochle. We bowled on a league with both of them for many years and of course, Ralphie always had the highest average!
 
 As the years passed, our son Jim married Brooke and they have 4 children and our daughter, Lori Beth married Robert a couple of years later and they also have 4 children and Ralphie loved being around all of them. Dona and I kind of “adopted” Cindy Jo Hunt and eventually her daughters, too, and without hesitation, so did Ralphie. He was a terrific grandparent - allowing the little ones to jump on his tummy and would constantly tease the older ones. He was pretty famous for his homemade beef jerky as most of the Tucson great-grandchildren loved eating it.

 Ralphie was a kind, patient, loving and faithful husband to Nonnie which gave all of us in her family peace of mind and brought her and us much happiness. After Nonnie's devastating illness that left her disabled for the last 18 years of her life, he was always right there caring for all her needs and wants until she passed shortly after their 37th anniversary in 2013.

 We were fortunate to have lived so close to Ralphie and were honored to be able to “pay back” a little for all the things he did for us over the years by helping him when he was physically unable to do something, whatever it might be. Our son, Jim, was always right there to fix any computer problems he had and our daughter, Lori Beth had been cleaning his house for a long time, plus she cared for Nonnie for several years during the hours Ralphie worked. All of us pitched in a few times to clean the yards or surprise them with a new paint job on the house or bedroom. Lori Beth made sure that once or twice a month she would stop for some Church's Chicken (his favorite) to share with Ralphie at lunch time. Dona and I, and our kids and their spouses, were always willing to help with anything that Ralphie needed because we all loved him so very much and we also knew that Ralphie would do the same for us.

 After his recent surgery on Tuesday, September 16th. We brought him to our home to recuperate and during those few days, we enjoyed pampering him and he enjoyed being pampered! We reminisced a lot; we laughed a lot and we talked about a lot of things, like all the plans he had to fix up his house and how much he was looking forward to visiting his other step-daughters, DeLoris and Judie, and their families in Oregon next year and what he wanted to do after he retired. I don't think he had any regrets and he was looking forward to the future, but he also knew he was rather a medical miracle and he was very thankful that he was still living and enjoying life.

 We thought we would have a lot more time with him and I can't tell you just how much we are going to miss our Ralphie. Life is not going to be the same and there is a big hole in our hearts, but we will always be forever grateful to have had this man as a very big part of our family. Love you forever, Ralphie!

A life well lived, caring for Dorothy,  ended too soon.
We will miss him. Our thoughts are with all the family.

I'll always remember Ralph's Tee-shirts with their witty sayings and his bright coloured suspenders. What a terrible loss for the family. (Greg)

We are going to miss Ralph.  He usually had the knack of making us smile.
Our prayers are with all the family and friends.

AVIS DE DÉCÈS

Ralph Lawrence Soukup

8 mars 1943 – 22 septembre 2014

Desert Rose Heather Cremation & Burial

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