Mr. Ralph Howard Rygg

Ralph Howard Rygg passed away on August 14th, 2020, in Frisco, Texas. He was born on March 8, 1927 at Central Hospital in Grand Forks, North Dakota. His parents were Etta and Peder Rygg. He had two brothers, Paul and Sterling.

Ralph lived in the small town of Fairdale, North Dakota, until 1940 when the family moved to Kalispell, Montana. That fall he entered Flathead County High School as a Freshman. After graduating in 1944, he attended Concordia College in Moorhead, Minnesota, where he received a Bachelor's Degree with a double major in math and chemistry. In 1949 he entered the University of Iowa and received a Master's Degree in 1951. He then worked at the National Reactor Testing Station near Arco, Idaho for 2 years, but then returned to the University of Iowa and received his PhD in inorganic chemistry in 1957. He taught at the University of Nevada in Reno for 2 years beginning in September 1956. He then moved to Texas and worked as a research chemist in the Mobil Field Research Lab in Dallas, Texas for 6 years. He then went back to academia for 16 years, primarily at Mankato State University in Mankato, Minnesota. In 1970 he married Melba White and they had a son, Erik, born in 1971. In 1979 he returned to working at the Mobil Research Lab in Dallas until his retirement in 1991; during this period, his family lived in Keller, Texas. In his retirement he was active in the Tarrant County NEED organization for about 20 years. Ralph and Melba remained in Keller until 2017 when they moved to Frisco, Texas to be near their son Erik and his family.

Ralph passed away peacefully in his home in Frisco. A graveside service attended by immediate family was held at Bluebonnet Hills in Colleyville, Texas. He is survived by his wife of 50 years, Melba, as well as his son Erik, daughter-in-law Meghan, and his three grandchildren Evan, Gillian, and Colin. Ralph was a caring husband, father, and grandfather, and he will be greatly missed.