Ronald Ralph Crais

Born in New Orleans on October 18, 1939, to Ralph Edward Crais and Dorothy Eisenman Crais, Ronald Ralph Crais started life at Hotel Dieu Hospital. He attended Gentilly Terrace Elementary School, graduated from Saint Aloysius High School (later Brother Martin), and attended LSUNO. He served as a football and baseball coach at NORD playgrounds. He got his first boat at 16 years old, the “K-Ron“, and he became an expert water skier on lakes and bayous around Louisiana and on Lake Pontchartrain.

Fishing and hunting were in his blood from his “PawPaw Christen" where every summer was spent at their camps along Haynes Boulevard in New Orleans.

He served in the Air National Guard as an Air Policeman, and in 1967, he founded Ronald R. Crais Petroleum which he and his wife led for 55 years.

In 1962, he married his Gentilly neighbor, Beverly Dupaquier. They went on to have three children: David Ronald, Elizabeth Mary, and Catherine Marie.

He was a longtime member and float lieutenant in the Endymion Parade where his two daughters, Elizabeth and Cathy, were maids, and his son, David, was a rider with him.

As an avid hunter, he hunted deer and turkey in Bayou Lacombe and the Rutledge Ranch in Fredericksburg, Texas. For ducks he hunted in Bayou Biloxi and the marshes behind his house in Kenner.

He loved his boat, the “BevRon”, and fished from it at the “Milk Bottle” in Lake Pontchartrain to oil rigs offshore in the Gulf and Breton Island. Summers with his family and friends were often spent at the Broadwater Beach in Biloxi, Mississippi. He enjoyed New Orleans culture. He loved the outdoors, the house he built, and his “toys".

He was a Louisiana Oil Marketers Association (LOMA) member, a lifelong member and sponsor of Ducks Unlimited, a donor to the Lake Pontchartrain Basin Foundation Light House, a sponsor of horse races at the Fairgrounds and Jefferson Downs racetracks, and a member of the Brother Martin Alumni Association.

His last week before an injury, he attended a book reading in Uptown New Orleans, passed out candy to children in his Woodlake Estates neighborhood on Halloween, and watched financial channels and his hunting shows on TV until 3:00 am as he enjoyed doing.

Ronnie was a tireless worker, strong provider, and generous husband and father. He loved his wife, children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren more than one can imagine; pride doesn’t begin to describe how he felt about his family and the lives they created. His passion could rattle cages but also blaze trails. Ronnie passed away peacefully at 11:15 pm on November 4, 2025, at East Jefferson Hospital with his family at his bedside.

He is survived by his wife, Beverly Ann Dupaquier; his sister, Karen Bruiglio; his children, David Crais, his former daughter-in-law, Gina Hartman Crais; Elizabeth Crais MacLean (Mark); Catherine Crais Williams (Chris); his grandchildren, Connor MacLean (Kassidy); Michael MacLean; Catherine MacLean; Christian Crais (Riley); Gabriella Crais; Rhett Williams, Zeek Williams, Alexis Williams; and his great-grandchildren, Greyson MacLean, Emmalyn MacLean, Elizabeth Crais, and Daimon Crais.

Visitation will be held from 12:00 noon until 2:00 pm on Saturday, November 22, 2025, at Leitz-Eagan Funeral Home, 4747 Veterans Memorial Blvd. in Metairie. Interment will be in Metairie Cemetery on Monday, November 24, 2025.

In lieu of flowers, please make donations to Church of the King, https://churchoftheking.com/give.