Obituary of Leonard F. Ralston

Leonard F. Ralston of Cortland died peacefully at home on April 23, 2017. Len was born in Des Moines, Iowa, on July 27, 1925, the second son of S. Clyde and Lavina (Broell) Ralston. Educated in parochial and public schools in Des Moines, he graduated from East Des Moines High School. After graduation, he began an apprenticeship in the press room of the Meredith Publishing Company, which was interrupted by service as a navigator in the Army Air Corps in World War II (1943-1946). After the war, he began his studies at the University of Iowa, where he met and married his wife, Eleanor Douglas of Macomb, Illinois. They graduated together in 1949, after which he earned a Masters Degree at the University of Wisconsin (1950) and a PhD. in History at the University of Iowa (1963). Len and Eleanor both taught in the high school at Bridgewater, Iowa, and Len continued teaching at the University High School in Iowa City while attending graduate school. He then joined the faculty at SUNY Cortland as Assistant Professor of American History in 1957. Len particularly enjoyed teaching about the westward movement of the American frontier. He served as Chairman of the History Department (1966-1970) and as Chairman of the Faculty Senate (1972) as well as on numerous faculty committees. Research grants from the State University Research Foundation during the 1970s and an NEH fellowship in 1980, funded a study of Cortland County history. Len published several articles in regional historical journals. After 30 years of teaching at Cortland, he retired in 1987. Near his retirement, a request from SUNY Cortland President James Clark led him to undertake a new history of the College at Cortland. Len spent the next four years researching and writing a detailed history of the college he loved. Cortland College: An Illustrated History was published in 1991. In recognition of this accomplishment, the College Alumni Association at Cortland acknowledged this effort with an honorary membership. After retirement, Len became active in the Cortland County Historical Society, serving on the Board of Trustees for many years. As a volunteer, he compiled indices for several Cortland County censuses and for other historical documents. He served as editor for several Society publications; Cortland County Remembers (2007), Cortland County Remembers II (2009), Cortland County Remembers Working (2011), and Working Too (2013) as well as a new edition of Bertha Blodgett's Stories of Cortland County (2008). The Ralston family joined the congregation at the Unitarian Universalist Church and for more than fifty years both Eleanor and Len were very active in the "little cobblestone" Church. In addition to all of his volunteer work, Len had many hobbies, included reading, playing cards (bridge, pitch and others) and sports of all kinds with the family. You would often see him riding his bicycle around Cortland, well into his older age. He had a lifelong love of American jazz, particularly the big bands of the 40s and 50s, and he and Eleanor saw and danced to many of the great bandleaders. They enjoyed travelling and vacationing with the family and together they visited sites in forty-nine of the fifty states. He is survived by his wife of more than sixty-eight years, Eleanor (Douglas) Ralston, and five children: Mark D. Ralston (Mara Kalter) of Portland, OR, Mary K. 'Kay' Merola, of Cortland, Margaret C. 'Carol' Hinchcliffe (Brian) of Mamaroneck, NY, Marcia E. 'Beth' Ralston of Rye, NY, and Matthew D. Ralston (Ryoko) of Glen Rock, NJ. He and Eleanor derived great pleasure from their eight grandchildren, Drew and Jake Merola, Max, Clara, and Patrick Hinchcliffe, Alana Ralston, and Conan and Juno Ralston, Len was predeceased by a brother, John J. Ralston of Des Moines, IA and sisters, Eleanor J. Andersen of Fresno, CA. and Margaret C. Ralston of San Francisco, CA. A memorial service will be announced at a later date. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made in Len's memory to the Cortland County Historical Society, the Unitarian-Universalist Church or the Cortland College Foundation.