Ralph V. Labella

I am Della Jackson and sad to say, I just found out that Ralph had left us; and my heart is heavy, but yet I know he will not be in any more pain. I was one of the Daily Life Coordinators along with Ralph and Ceceile at St. George Village. Ralph and I stayed in touch and spoke often or text monthly just to check up on each other. As our Supervisor - Renee had mentioned, we had so many fun times together with Ralph! He could always make our days brighter with his hilarious stories. I remember so many times laughing so hard that tears would flow from my eyes. He was so funny, and who would had thought he was really shy until he got to know a person. Ralph loved the Soup to Nuts weekly cooking class and the residents couldn´t wait to see what he was going to whip up.

There are so many memories to tell but one in particular was when he played Santa Claus and our boss Renee was Mrs. Clause (see the picture below). One of the residents let him use her electric scooter and Renee transformed it into a sled. When Ralph rode it on the stage, he almost ran into the Christmas display, as he tried to quickly maneuver it safely back. But it was so funny, we think the residents thought it was part of the show.

There are many stories to share and I will hold them all dear to my heart! Ralph loved sharing and helping the residents. God blessed him with the gift of giving, laughter and serving. I will miss him dearly.
My prayers go out to the family. Know that Ralph is at peace with Christ in paradise where he is finally free from pain.

Blessings, Love & Peace,
Della Westerfield (Jackson)

I will miss my friend Ralph. I was Ralph's supervisor at St George. He could always be counted on. I adored his wonderful sense of humor. During our lunch breaks he would have us in hysterics telling the tales of his life like the time he was shopping at Publix and it was raining very hard. His cart started rolling away and Ralph umbrella in hand went running after it. He slipped and fell onto the parking lot and if memory serves me right the cart turned over and by the time he got in the car he was drenched to the bone and he had to strip off everything. I know my retelling isn't funny but believe me his telling of this was hilarious. The Pandemic left him so isolated which coincided with his illness. He missed holidays with his niece and nephews who he said called him "Uncle". His valiant battle with cancer demonstrated his faith in God. I will never forget Ralph La Bella. He was a great guy.
Renee Krosner Slone