William Ralph Obituary

William Ernest Ralph 80 Yr. Livermore Resident Born May 29, 1933 at home in the small community of Altamont, CA. Bill attended grades 1-8 in the one-room schoolhouse, May School, located on what is now called Old May School Road. Bill graduated from Livermore High School where he studied Agriculture and Shop. He was active in school activities including American Legion Award, FFA Green Hand, CA Scholarship Federation (CSF), Baseball, Football, Block L, FFA treasurer and Regional Vice President, Star State Farmer, Junior class treasurer, King of Junior Carnival, Football Scholarship Award, and BofA Award. He purchased his first ranch at 17 and continued the Ralph family tradition of ranching and farming. Over his lifetime he owned, farmed and leased ranches from Fresno to Chico raising a variety of crops including sugar beets, asparagus, wheat and barley, just to name a few. Perhaps Bill's greatest joy was property and ranch development. He was also a partner in the DePaoli Equipment Company. He was also active in researching and developing the Windmills that are on the Altamont Pass. Bill was preceded in death by his parents, William, Sr. and Marie (Gohler), and his long time partner Serena Delevati. He is survived by his son Steve (Neila), grandsons Steven, Jr. (Katja) and Jesse (Lea) and 6 great- grandchildren, step children Debra Radford grandsons Bryan and Nolan, Jackie Upshaw-Lawson (David) grandsons Theo and Jack, and Daniel Upshaw (Carmen) grandchildren Corina, Dominic, and Julia, his sisters Dorothy Santucci (Lou) of Livermore, and Elizabeth (Betty) Kimble of San Francisco, 6 nieces and nephews and numerous great-nieces and nephews. Services will be at Callaghan's Mortuary on Saturday, February 22 at 10:00 AM. Callaghan Morturay 925-447-2942 callaghanmortuary.com