Ralph was born September 29, 1929 in Advance, North Carolina.  He graduated from Mocksville High School in 1947.

Ralph graduated from University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill with a B.S. in Business Administration in 1954 and received his MBA at UNC in 1955.  He also graduated from the Rutgers University, Stonier Graduate School of Banking in 1970.

He served in the United States Army, 66th Counter Intelligence Corps; Stuttgart, Germany from 1951-53.

Ralph married Tirzah Ison Bowden in June 1958 and they have three children and two grandchildren.

Ralph joined Wachovia Bank in 1960 as Branch Manager and Commercial Loan Officer.  He worked for First Financial Management and United Carolina Bank/Waccamaw Bank as Senior Vice President.  He was president and CEO of both Gateway Bank and Triad Bank before his retirement in 1992.

He was active as instructor at American Institute of Banking.  He served as district chairman for the local Boy Scout chapter.

He joined the Rotary Club of Crescent (Greensboro) in 1975 and served as president in 1978-79.

At the district level, he served as district governor in 1988-89 and served as district foundation chairman.  He received The Rotary Foundation Citation for Meritorious Service in 1993.  He is a benefactor, bequest society member, and major donor to The Rotary Foundation.

Ralph was active in numerous activities in Greensboro area including director of the local Chamber of Commerce, director of United Way, chairman of the Better Business Bureau of Central North Carolina, chairman of Greensboro Economic Education Program, director of Greensboro Merchants Association, director of Greensboro Episcopal Housing, director of North Carolina Bankers Association, and director of the Georgetown (South Carolina) Hospital Foundation.

He was active in leadership positions at several different churches including St. John’s Episcopal Church, Grace Episcopal Church, St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church and Christ United Methodist Church.

-PRID Ken Morgan (2017)