Helen Anna Hannan Ralph

HELEN ANNA HANNAN RALPH JULY 11, 1921 - OCT. 14, 2007 Helen Ralph, retired teacher of Child Development at the Modesto Junior College and long-time Modesto resident, died on October 14 at Memorial Hospital. She was 86.

Upon graduation from Oregon State University at Corvallis, Mrs. Ralph began her teaching career at a Lanham Act shipyard preschool in Vanport, Oregon near Portland. She continued as a preschool and kindergarten teacher in San Francisco. In 1965 she began her twenty-five year association with MJC.

Mrs. Ralph was born in Buxton, Oregon where her grandparents homesteaded and her father owned the general store. In 1944 she visited San Francisco and decided to stay. There she met Private First Class Dick Ralph of Sacramento. Dick and Helen married in 1946. She moved to Modesto when her husband began teaching at Downey High School and returned to the work force when her youngest daughter started school.

Mrs. Ralph was a Lifetime Member of the National Association for the Education of Young Children. She was an active member and past president of the American Association of University Women and an ardent Democrat.

She is survived by her daughters Ann Ralph of Jackson CA, Sydney Hannan and Katherine Ralph of Richmond CA, sisters Doris Nelson, Norma Tscheu, Shirley Hess, and brother Ralph Hannan, all of Portland. A memorial service will be held at the College Avenue Congregational Church in Modesto on November 2 at 1:00 PM. Remembrances may be made to the Katherine Read Baker Award to the attention of the Scholarship Office, MJC, 435 College Avenue, Modesto CA 95350.

www.modbee.com/obituaries