Russell Kerr Ralston

RALSTON, KERR, CHAMBERLAIN, OLSON, YETTER, SWIATKOWSKI, STRAND, GRAVELIE

Posted By: Pat Hochstetler (email)
Date: 5/29/2006 at 15:10:29

Earlham Library Obituary Collection
2001

Russell Kerr Ralsotn, 94, died of congestive heart failure March 5, 2001, at the USA Health Care Center in Earlham.

Funeral services were held Saturday, March 10, at the First Presbyterian Church in Earlham with Dr. Ray Martin and Ernest Baiotto officiating. Burial was at Earlham Cemetery.

Russell Ralston was born Jan. 17, 1907, in Scott County to David Shannon and Bessie (Kerr) Ralston. He moved to a farm west of Earlham when he was 5 years of age. A 1925 graduate of Earlham High School, he also attended the University of Commerce Business College in Des Moines. He married Olive Mae Chamberlain on Oct. 14, 1939. A lifelong farmer, Russell was a member of the First Presbyterian Church in Earlham where he had been the treasurer for many years and a member of the session (serving as clerk). He also was a member of the Iowa Association of Railroad Passengers and the National Railway Historical Society (Iowa chapter).

He was preceded in death by his parents, a sister, two brothers and a son-in-law.

He is survived by his wife, Olive, of Earlham; four daughters, Ruby Olson (husband Larry) of St. Cloud, Minn., Lois Yetter (husband Sam) of Earlham, Ann Swiatkowski of Centreville, Va., and Doris Strand (husband Steve) of Marshalltown; a son, William Ralston (wife Rosemary) of Chesapeake, Va.; a sister, Grace Gravelie of Cedar Rapids; 10 grandchildren; and seven great-grandchildren.