Ralph Franke died at 8:00 p.m. July 6, 2015, at his residence in Fox Crest nursing facility in Chester, West Virginia, after 4 years of decline.

Born Oct. 20, 1922 in Algonquin, McHenry County, Illinois, Ralph was the son of Clarence Wilhelm Albrecht Franke and Ella Matilda Ritt. Ralph’s brother, Clarence Christian Carl, and sister Helen A. Franke, as well as his parents are all deceased.

Ralph graduated from Dundee High School, Elgin, Illinois, in 1939, having skipped two years of school. Ralph then attended the University of Illinois, majoring in ceramic engineering, where he met his bride-to-be. Ralph joined ROTC as did many who finished college during World War II; Ralph graduated in 1943 and was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the Army of the United States.

Ralph married Merval Lorraine Schoeder on Sept. 14, 1943 in Geneseo, Henry Co., IL, in the parlor at the home of Louis Arthur and Carrie Alice Schroeder, her grandparents. Ralph and Merval had their honeymoon on a troop train and moved many times to many states during the course of their early marriage. Ralph attended flight and artillery schools in preparation for combat service. While temporarily billeted in Hawaii, he and another Second Lieutenant participated in the Basic Training of a levy of Hawaiian draftees.

The 37th Division was subjected to an atomic bomb blast in the Nevada desert. What was to be three days became three miserable weeks while the bomb was prepared. Ralph was among those service members who are called “Atomic Veterans,” exposed to ionizing radiation.

Ralph was sent to the largest battle in the Pacific Theater of Operations, the invasion and conquest of Okinawa, where he was a spotter pilot for artillery, flying low and slow over inviting targets. On his first sortie over enemy territory Ralph’s L-4 Piper Cub was shot down behind enemy lines, but he was picked up by an American patrol. Because his observer had serious injuries, Ralph refused the Purple Heart for a shrapnel injury and returned to duty before required. Ralph earned 21 Air Medals and flew 105 combat missions. His last Cub was a composite of 5 or 6 wrecks. He flew for the 198th Field Artillery Battalion which fired the most 8” howitzer shells during the last battle of WWII on Okinawa. They were scheduled to be first on the beach of the invasion of Tokyo Bay, expecting 95% casualties; but the atomic bombs ended the war. Ralph then flew over Korea after the Japanese capitulation, ferrying Army Command about the peninsula during the supervision of the surrender of Japanese forces. His last flight was between Incheon and Seoul and ended with a crash landing, which finished off the “composite” Piper of Okinawa.

Ralph continued service in the Ohio National Guard as the commanding officer of a tank company in East Liverpool, Columbiana, Ohio. As part of the relief efforts to deliver milk during the Thanksgiving Blizzard of 1950, Ralph ordered the unit tanks onto the streets of East Liverpool and across the bridge into West Virginia. Ralph was called back to active service for the Korean Conflict with the 37th (Buckeye) Division at Fort Polk, Vernon Parish, Louisiana, where he trained younger servicemen.

Following discharge from WWII service in mid-1945, Ralph began working as a ceramic engineering with the Autolite Sparkplug Company in Fostoria, Ohio. In 1948, he became an engineer for the Homer Laughlin China Company in Newell, Hancock, WV; the young family lived in East Liverpool. Ralph moved next to the Cambridge Tile Manufacturing Company in Hartwell, Hamilton, OH, but lived in North College Hill, from 1955 to 1971. In 1971 Ralph returned to Homer Laughlin where he was a ceramic engineer under two more senior engineers before becoming head of the laboratory himself. He was the Technical Director when he retired in 1992.

During Ralph’s second stint at Homer Laughlin, with the U.S. pottery industry failing due to an invasion of cheap overseas dinnerware, Ralph suggested that Homer Laughlin reintroduce an updated version of the Depression-era Fiesta ware. Ralph created lead-free glazes, a vitrified china body, new spraying methods, and installed a new single-fire kiln to improve quality at reduced cost. Ralph also improved many other industrial systems within the riverfront plants, modernizing kilns, bettering body preparation, and improving hand-painting procedures. The family lived in Calcutta Acres, then the empty-nesters moved to Fredricktown subdivision outside Calcutta. When Ralph was sent to Japan and Korea to tour potteries there, he learned he had been using an incorrect name all his life. He had his name legally corrected to Ralph Carl from Ralph George; his father had registered the latter despite his wife’s mandate.

Young Ralph played American Legion baseball. Ralph was a skilled at decorating and landscaping homes. He was active in his church, especially Roselawn Lutheran in Cincinnati and St. John’s Lutheran Church in ELO. He mentored in Junior Achievement and drove for Meals on Wheels. Ralph was an avid bridge player in the community. He taught bridge for many years, both at his home and at the Kent State Branch in ELO. Ralph enjoyed his family and was proud of his sons. He doted on several beagles.

The youngest son, Kevin Carl Franke, died in a canoe accident Apr. 9, 1977 at the Beaver
Creek State Park. Ralph and Merval entered life at Fox Crest complex in the senior independent apartments when Merval needed care. Merval died Dec. 8, 2006 in Fox Crest. Both Kevin and Merval are in the Columbiana County Memorial Park; where Ralph will join them. Ralph moved to assisted living in 2013 as the aging process continued to take its toll; macular degeneration taking his sight and flak had impaired his hearing. In 2015 he was enrolled in hospice. From the time he lost his beloved wife he has been ready to move on.

Ralph is survived by two sons – Lance Nelson and his wife Lynn reside in Sandusky, Ohio, while William Tadd and his wife Jean live in Peachtree Corners, Georgia. There are three grandchildren: Carrie, Kevin, and Christina. There are also eight great-grandchildren: Carrie and Sean have Catelynn, Nelson, Jacob, and the twins Emmaleigh and Chloe, all living in Ohio; Kevin and Belinda have Audra, Calla, and Owen, and are currently stationed in Germany. Christina lives in Georgia.

The family thanks the dedicated professionals and caring staff and management of Fox Crest for years of care and concern for both Ralph and Merval. We also thank Vicki Sievers for her friendship with Ralph and his last beagle.

A memorial service will take place at 1:00 p.m. Friday, July 24, 2015 in the Card Room at Fox Crest, 126 Fox Lane, Chester, West Virginia.

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