Ralph Harry DRAVES

DRAVES, PEPPER, BUCKLEY, KRUGER, HOKANSON, COOK, HALTOM

Posted By: Sarah Thorson Little (email)
Date: 11/10/2013 at 13:11:12

December 2, 1935 --- October 14, 2013

Ralph Harry Draves, 77, of El Lago, TX passed away October 14, 2013 in Houston, TX following complications from open heart surgery.

Ralph was born December 2, 1935, in Wright County, Iowa, to Harry & Elizabeth (Pepper) Draves. He graduated from Iowa State College, Ames, with a degree in chemical engineering, and married Marion Buckley (Bath, Ohio) on November 21, 1958. As the family grew to include five children and numerous foreign exchange students, they lived in Fort Dodge, Mason City, and Marshalltown, Iowa, before moving to El Lago in 1978. Ralph was a senior process control engineer at his retirement, having worked for several corporations including Fort Dodge Laboratories, Northwestern States Portland Cement, Fisher Controls, Conoco, Monsanto, and DuPont. He was active in Toastmasters and AIChE for many years and was a lay minister in the United Methodist Church. He and Marion were charter members of Bay Harbour UMC. Ralph enjoyed gardening, solving crosswords and Sudoku puzzles, and working on the family genealogy. He treasured time spent helping care for his grandsons.

He is survived by children: Catherine (Greg) Kruger, Michael (Nancy), Karen (Stephen) Hokanson, and Stephanie Cook; grandchildren: Geoffrey (Anna), Christopher, and Kirsten Kruger; Cristiano (Alison) Draves; and Anthony and Zachary Cook; three great-grandchildren; and sister Norma Haltom. He was preceded in death by his parents, wife Marion, daughter Patricia, and brother Ronald.

A memorial service will be held at 2:00 PM Saturday, October 19, 2013 at Bay Harbour United Methodist Church, 3459 Deke Slayton Hwy. (3459 FM 518 Rd. E), League City, TX 77573. Inurnment will be at Riverside Cemetery, Marshalltown, Iowa. Services in the Marshalltown, Iowa, area are pending.

Mitchell Funeral Home - Marshalltown, Iowa
http://www.mitchellfh.com/sitemaker/sites/MITCHE2/obit.cgi?user=1132052Draves