Ralph Lugbill

Ralph Waldo Lugbill

Ralph Lugbill passed away in Boulder, Colorado on July 4, 2017. He was born at home on February 5, 1931 to Sylvanus and Mary (“Mamie”) Schmucker Lugbill in rural Archbold, Ohio. Ralph first attended a one-room school and then Archbold Schools. At Archbold High School, Ralph played basketball and trombone in the marching band. His good humor and jokes were much appreciated, according to high school yearbook comments. He returned often to Archbold to visit family and for Class of 1949 reunions.

Ralph went to Goshen College in Goshen, Indiana, but one summer went west to work for his sister Donna and brother-in-law Junior Wyse on their ranch in Westminster, Colorado and study at the University of Colorado. There he met Viva Stoltzfus. They married in 1952.

Ralph and Viva served in La Plata, Puerto Rico under the Mennonite Mission Board, 1953-1955, with Ralph working on rural agricultural projects and serving as administrator of the tobacco barn-turned-hospital there. Ralph and Viva returned to Archbold, Ohio in 1955 and lived on a farm until moving to “Lugbill Addition” in 1959. Sons Ralph Kent, Ron Geoffrey, and Jon Phillip were born in Archbold. Ralph worked in the family livestock auction business, Lugbill Brothers, and Lugbill Supply Center.

Ralph was a charter member of Zion Mennonite Church in Archbold and was an active church youth leader there and at Little Eden Camp, Onekama, Michigan.

In 1964, Ralph and Viva and their family moved to the Washington, D.C. area, living in Vienna and Fairfax, Virginia and Bethesda, Maryland. Ralph was self-employed, in construction, life insurance, and managing commercial real estate. One business partner included lawyer Peter Greenburg. After working together for some time, they were astonished to discover that Pete’s family had lived in Archbold. Indeed, Pete’s father’s prowess on the Archbold High basketball court and his business success were well-known in Archbold. Through his lifelong friend, Maynard Sauder, and hiw wife, Carolyn Sauder, Ralph re-connected the Greenburgs with Archbold and the family established the Greenburg Gallery at Archbold’s Sauder Farm and Craft Village.

Ralph was a founding board member of the Women’s National Bank, a Washington D.C. institution that was the first federally-chartered womens bank and the first women-owned banking institution admitted to the Federal Reserve System. He served as an officer on the boards of the Washington D.C. Friends (Quaker) Committee on National Legislation and Sandy Springs Friends School in Maryland. He was President of the Goshen College Alumni Board. He and Viva established Goshen’s Ralph and Viva Lugbill Multicultural Award, providing scholarships to students from diverse backgrounds. Ralph was active in the Langley Friends Meeting (Virginia) and in the Boulder Friends Meeting.

Ralph was very active in the lives of his 4 children and was an avid canoeist, skier, and hiker. Ralph and Viva travelled five times to Europe for sons Ron and Jon’s international canoe and kayak competitions. The entire family watched Jon compete in the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona Spain and encouraged son Ron’s coaching of paddlers. Ralph’s grandchildren all loved to visit the Rocky Mountains, where they hiked and skied with Grandpa.

In 1997, Ralph retired and built a home in Estes Park, Colorado, facing Longs Peak. He was active in the Trail Trekkers hiking group and the “Over the Hill” skiing group, skiing until age 80. He scaled Longs Peak 11 times. In 2014, Ralph and Viva moved to Boulder, Colorado. Ralph passed away July 4, 2017, following a year-long bout with a rare cancer, a soft tissue sarcoma in his leg. He died peacefully without pain and surrounded by family.

Ralph was preceded in death by sisters Wanda and their spouses (Clarence) Rich; Grace (Lawrence) Nofziger; and Donna (Junior) Wyse, and sister-in-law Shirley. A brother, Charles “Chuck” (Shirley) Lugbill, Archbold, survives. In addition to Viva, all four children survive: Ann Lugbill (Brewster Rhoads) of Cincinnati, Ohio and Big Pine Key, Florida; Ralph Kent Lugbill (Leslie Boyhan) of Boulder; Ron Lugbill of Rochester, New York; and Jon (Gillian) Lugbill of Richmond, Virginia; along with grandchildren: Elizabeth, Caroline, Alex, Brian, Anna, Kelly, and Stephanie.

Memorial gifts may be made to:

Goshen College, Ralph and Viva Lugbill Multicultural Scholarship Award

Friends Committee on National Legislation Education Fund

A memorial service was held on July 15, 2017 at Boulder Friends Meeting.