Ralph William Gay
August 16, 2018 at 3:21 p.m.
By -
He was born Jan. 9, 1934, in Etna Green, to Victor Gay and Hazel Klotz Gay. He graduated from Etna Green High School in 1951 and from Indiana University South Bend in 1967.
He served in the U.S. Army from 1956 to 1958. His duties included tracking the first satellites launched by the USA and USSR at a tracking station on Batista Air Base near Havana, Cuba.
He worked 14 years at Western Electric Co. in Indiana, during which time he earned a B.S. in marketing at the IU campus in South Bend, graduating in the first class that graduated from the South Bend campus. Upon graduation, he joined GTE Corp. in Northlake, Ill., where he managed various groups until his retirement in 1986.
He was married to Marilyn Shrader on Feb. 21, 1954, in Winamac. She survives in Deland.
Also surviving are his son, Ross Warren Gay, Wyoming, Minn.; grandchildren: Carly Gay, Ryan Gay and Alex Gay, Minnesota; and Eric Hegel and Justin Hegel, Lafayette; greatgrandchild, Lilly Gay, Minnesota; sisters, Ivaetta Gay McCammon, Bloomington, and Vickie Gay Trowbridge, Leesburg; and brother, Carl Gay, Elkhart.
He was preceded by a daughter, Shannon Lee Gay Hegel, in October 2004.
He was born Jan. 9, 1934, in Etna Green, to Victor Gay and Hazel Klotz Gay. He graduated from Etna Green High School in 1951 and from Indiana University South Bend in 1967.
He served in the U.S. Army from 1956 to 1958. His duties included tracking the first satellites launched by the USA and USSR at a tracking station on Batista Air Base near Havana, Cuba.
He worked 14 years at Western Electric Co. in Indiana, during which time he earned a B.S. in marketing at the IU campus in South Bend, graduating in the first class that graduated from the South Bend campus. Upon graduation, he joined GTE Corp. in Northlake, Ill., where he managed various groups until his retirement in 1986.
He was married to Marilyn Shrader on Feb. 21, 1954, in Winamac. She survives in Deland.
Also surviving are his son, Ross Warren Gay, Wyoming, Minn.; grandchildren: Carly Gay, Ryan Gay and Alex Gay, Minnesota; and Eric Hegel and Justin Hegel, Lafayette; greatgrandchild, Lilly Gay, Minnesota; sisters, Ivaetta Gay McCammon, Bloomington, and Vickie Gay Trowbridge, Leesburg; and brother, Carl Gay, Elkhart.
He was preceded by a daughter, Shannon Lee Gay Hegel, in October 2004.
Have a news tip? Email [email protected] or Call/Text 360-922-3092