Ralph E. STEENBLOCK

STEENBLOCK, GANO, ADAMS, MONGAN, KASTER, LALLAK

Posted By: Sarah Thorson Little (email)
Date: 2/10/2024 at 13:06:46

May 1, 1954 ---- November 17, 2017

Ralph E. Steenblock, 63, of Kanawha passed away Friday, November 17, 2017 at his home in Kanawha.
Memorial services for Ralph Steenblock will be held on Wednesday, November 22, 2017 at 10:30 AM at Kanawha United Methodist Church, 402 North Main Street in Kanawha, with Pastor Mark Heath officiating. Burial will be at Amsterdam Cemetery in Goodell. Visitation will be held from 5:00 to 7:00 PM on Tuesday, November 21, 2017 at Ewing Funeral Home, 118 East Second Street in Kanawha, and will continue one hour prior to services at the church on Wednesday.

Ralph Steenblock was born May 1, 1954 in Belmond, Iowa to Harvey and Dorothy (Gano) Steenblock. He was raised and educated in Kanawha, graduating with the Class of 1972. Following high school, Ralph attended Dordt College in Sioux Center. Ralph returned to the Kanawha area where he farmed the old home place for many years.

Ralph overcame countless obstacles in his life having been born with spina bifida. Shortly after he was born, a doctor in Rochester told his parents that he would never be able to walk. Ralph promptly kicked the doctor and has been defying the odds ever since.

“Ralph E. Boy” as he referred to himself, loved playing tennis and golf in his earlier years, rode RAGBRAI on at least one occasion, and won a Left Handed Arm Wrestling Championship at the Iowa State Fair in 1982. In more recent years, he enjoyed riding and traveling across the country on his motorcycle. He was a Harley man to the core and loved to ride bikes with his good friends. Ralph will forever be known as a jokester who always found a way to enjoy life, even in difficult times.

Ralph enjoyed a special bond with his family, especially his 10 great-nieces and nephews (and one on the way). He spent some of the winter months in the past few years with sister Brenda in Phoenix and once enjoyed a motorcycle trip with his friends to Mississippi to visit his brother Mike and ride the Natchez Trace. He loved to gather with Family at his sister Sue’s home and empathetically talked often of wishing he could take the pain away from kids with various ailments.

Ralph is survived by his sisters Susan (Jim) Adams of Webster City and Brenda Steenblock of Phoenix, Arizona; sister-in-law Pat Mongan of St. Charles, Iowa; brother-in-law Robert Kaster of Ventura, Iowa; niece Kelsie (Jarid) Lallak and children Zoey and Zayn of Ventura; nephews Bruce (Julie) Adams and daughter Katelyn of Ankeny, Clint (Kelly) Mongan and children Sadie, Ella, Henry, Patrick and Avery (on the way) of St. Charles, and Joshua (Sarah) Mongan and children Ethan, Eli and Hannah of St. Charles; special aunts Nene and Rhea; along with numerous cousins, other relatives and friends. Ralph was preceded in death by his parents, grandparents Hes and Sophie Gano and Pete and Maggie Steenblock, his sister Colleen Kaster and brother Michael Mongan.

http://www.ewingfh.com/obituaries/ralph-e-steenblock/