Ralph died Sunday. We called him “Mayor”lovingly and he was the mayor of Wilson, N.C. for three terms. I have never had my picture in the obit column before, but I am standing behind the smiling Mayor El Ramey. I am smiling too but you can’t tell it. Smiling because I had just overheard Ralph talking to the old lady dispensing the free, nutty-butty style giant ice cream cones: ” M’am– I have a friend over there who has a HARD TIME getting around. Would you mind giving me two so I can take her one?” Her who? I knew he was about to eat both. And he did.
He loved life. Never went into restaurant that the opening conversation with the waitress didn’t go like this: Ralph: “Well hello. What is YOUR name? Waitress: “Jill”. Ralph: “May I call you Jill?” Waitress: “Sure.” Ralph: “Well, when may I call you?”
Our gang has it’s 49th annual POKER WEEKEND starting Friday at Emerald Isle. At our first game after Ralph was elected Mayor he showed up with a large bag of change. I asked him where got all that change? “Parking meters” he said.
Mayor stories are flying all over eastern North Carolina. A ton will float around Emerald Isle this weekend. And for a long time,
“I love you now and evershall, but there’s no one left to tell.
The world has gone dark before my eyes.”
-
NETTIE MOORE,
Bob Dylan
The Little Green Book of Tennis 
ET,sorry to hear about Ralph-know that he was a good friend to you and countless others and that he will be sorely missed . Take care ! AW
Sent from my iPad
I remember when, at your NC HOF induction, the Mayor and I were sitting together as the procession was about to begin. We had been there about 30 minutes and Ralph had already polished off his fancy dessert. He looked at me and said, “Are they about to accept their awards yet?”
His back was facing the podium and he was unable to see what was going on. I said, “I’m afraid not, Mayor. They are going to introduce every living member of the HOF who is present …. and it appears to be about a hundred or so. Looks like we are going to be here a while.”
“Oh Lord” he sighed.
I gently slid my chocolate cake adorned with all the finery over to him. “See if this’ll help, Mayor.”
“Bless you.” he replied…
They don’t make ’em like that anymore.
During one of our “Friends of Tom Parham” weekend getaways we were standing in line checking out at the T&E when The Mayor heard me talking about how excited I was to be there. So he gave me a Viagra. A story I find amusing on several levels (grin). Cj
(PS; I always regretted giving him that pill back).