Here is the text of the Eulogy that Steven Sharp read at Papa’s funeral. This Eulogy was written by Ralph’s children:
The Sharp family migrated from England to Heber City, Utah in 1869. In 1919, they moved to Melbourne, Uintah County, Wyoming, just outside of Fort Bridger as part of the Homestead Act.
Ralph was born on April 30th, 1937 in an old Pony Express Station in Melbourne (the house is still there). He was the fourth of five children. He and his older brother, Garold, slept in the same bed upstairs in the loft. And since he was younger, Ralph always had to go to bed before Garold. In the wintertime, when Garold finally went to bed he would move Ralph over to the cold side and take the side that Ralph had warmed up.
Just before Ralph attended fifth grade, his parents moved the family to Salt Lake City, Utah where they lived at 2559 Green Street. His fifth grade teacher noticed that he had quite the “country bumpkin” way of speaking and worked with him to improve his grammar.
As a teenager, he enjoyed playing church basketball. He also enjoyed playing street football, much to his Mother’s chagrin. He attended and graduated from South High where he was in the ROTC program.
After High School, he apprenticed with a carpenter, drove a new ’56 ford sedan, and met and fell in love with a cute freckle-faced girl named Joy Carol Flanigan from Cedar City. He and Joy were married on January 24th, 1958 in the Salt Lake Temple. Together, they had seven children. He always used to say that he had one too many, but didn’t know which one to get rid of.
At one point in time in the early 70’s, he had an Amphicat amphibious ATV. He was taking several of his kids for a ride in Strawberry Reservoir when it started to sink. He was pretty nervous and wasn’t sure what to do to get all the kids back to shore and if they really did sink, which one he would save first. But we made it. Apparently, he wasn’t too serious about getting rid of any of his kids.
He enjoyed camping, hunting, riding his ATV and being with family and friends. Some of my happiest memories were when Papa and all his brothers and sisters would gather at their Sister Deon’s house to play cards. All of the cousins would be playing games in the same room. The laughter, love and chaotic happy atmosphere continue to be an uplifting and joyful memory.
Ralph and Joy didn’t travel much, but they did get the chance to see New York and Alaska. In 1994, Ralph and Joy were hired to drive a truck full of furniture from New York to Salt Lake. They had to fly to New York to get the truck. While there, they stayed in a fancier hotel than they had ever seen before. They couldn’t figure out how to use the tub and they laughingly referred to themselves as “Ma and Pa Kettle visit New York City”.
Their trip to Alaska in 1997 was one of their most memorable times together. They were able to make that trip with his sister, Carolyn and her husband. They really loved that time they had to see things and do things that they had never seen or done before.
The day our Mother was diagnosed with brain cancer, Ralph quit his job and spent the next fourteen months taking loving care of her. He was very brave and kind and we’re proud and grateful for the love he had for his wife and companion of 45 years. After her passing, Ralph was very, very lonely. He kept looking for things to keep him busy and Stacia even offered to get him a dog. But what he needed was a friend. We are so happy and grateful that Shirley came into his life. We are doubly blessed that we now have even more brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles and cousins. We accept them all as family and friends and we’re grateful that they’re a part of our lives.
There is a Russian proverb that goes something like this: “It is better to be hated for what you are, than to be loved for what you are not”. Papa was what he was and he didn’t pretend to be anything else, and he was loved for it. Papa and his two brothers, Garold and JL are, to me, the three wisest men I have ever known. Like his brothers, Papa was a very wise man who shared his wisdom, not so much in words, but with his actions and always with a sparkle in his eye, a smile on his face and an infectious laugh that was almost more of a cackle. Papa was a joy to be around and he found joy in being around all of us. We’re grateful that he was our Dad and our friend.
