Ralph Freeman Agee

1916 - 2008

Ralph Freeman Agee, 91, born Ralph Hugh Votaw in Long Beach, California to Lillian "Irene" Freeman and Roy Votaw. He had been suffering from Dementia and Alzheimer since 2002. Ralph passed away May 14, 2008 during surgery at Sierra Vista Hospital in San Luis Obispo, California, after suffering a broken hip and pneumonia. Ralph grew up in Bakersfield, California and was raised by his maternal grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. Fred Freeman, after his mother's death in the Spanish Influenza epidemic in the 1918 and his step father, James Agee death a few years later. He married Ruby Ellen Lowder in 1938 and were married 45 years until her death in December 1983 of Lou Gherig's Disease (ALS). Ralph worked for the USGS under Herbert Hoover, Jr. and for the US Army during WWII as a civilian contractor repairing radar up and down the Pacific coast after President Truman rescinded his draft into the US Navy. He retired in 1979 after working for CBS for 34 years both in Delano, California, when CBS ran the Voice of America (VOA) station there, and in Hollywood as an Electrical Engineer in the television studios. In 1962, after 25 years of marriage, Ralph and Ruby built a vacation home in Morro Bay when they found out they were expecting their third child - at ages 46 and 40. Since his wife Ruby's death he enjoyed traveling in his RV, volunteering for Salvation Army, and the California State Training Institute, as well as participating in the yearly Diablo Canyon siren test as a HAM Radio Operator (W6ZEK). He has enjoyed amateur Radio since he was a teenager. Ralph was a regular attendee of the 39 Plus Dance Club in Morro Bay, for over 20 years. Ralph is preceded in death my his wife Ruby, his daughter Leona "Margo" in 1959, age 19, Nursing student in Los Angeles, a baby boy in 1961, and his half brother Jack Agee of Colorado Springs, CO. Ralph leaves behind his daughter, Brenda; two grandchildren, Logan and Kira-Lani; and many friends and family. In lieu of flowers, the family is requesting any donations to be made to the Morro Bay Salvation Army P.O. Box 1073 Morro Bay, CA 93443, in his memory. No services. Ralph Freeman Agee Oct. 1, 1916 - May 14, 2008