By Judi McLeod ——Bio and Archives--December 24, 2023
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The last time we saw our dear friend Ralph Meyer, he was waving a profoundly sad farewell to us from the upper balcony in the house of his beloved daughter, Rose.
It was a farewell made all the more forlorn because it was tinged by a deep sense of the unknown in our upcoming 1,100-mile drive from Goderich to the small Acadian fishing village in Nova Scotia where we now live.
Along the miles, Brian and I comforted each other by promising we would someday see Ralph again, maybe on his October 7th, 100th Birthday.
Ralph and his now widowed wife, Margaret were and are our best friends in Goderich, Ontario.
Having first been introduced to them by the popular pastor of the beautiful St. Patrick’s Church in Kinkora, for seven years running we met with them Sundays after Mass at the former ‘Candlelight’ Family Restaurant in Goderich.
Ralph, who made thousands of rosaries for distribution around the world, brought many books for us at these meetings. He would patiently re-attach the crucifix to Brian’s broken rosaries, knowing that the rosaries had been broken while out in town parks walking our little dog, ‘Yankee’, never chiding him.
Sometimes in summer, we would hold our Sunday get togethers under the shade of trees in Goderich’s many beautiful parks.
Ralph, a Veteran of WWII, served in the Royal Canadian Air Force.
His favorite song was Judy Garland’s ‘Somewhere Over the Rainbow’ because he first heard it when a young neighbor was singing it from the top of a hay wagon. The young neighbor soon went away to fight in the war and never came back.
I smile in my heart, thinking of Ralph whenever I hear this song on the radio.
One day, out of the blue, at one of our Sunday gatherings, Ralph asked Brian if his grandfather, Edward ThomasThompson was the one and the same who was once the Grand Master of the Knights of Columbus in Calgary during the early 1940s.
As we had been meeting with Margaret and Ralph for some time when Ralph asked this question, we were quite taken aback.
Brian’s Grandfather had passed away when Brian was only eight years old.
Ralph, who didn’t want to live in the barracks, had asked at the Church he was then attending, if anyone knew where he could be billeted.
Turns out, Ralph did billet at Brian’s grandfather’s house at age 18—and brought along a picture of him there at our very next meeting!
As things turned out, we never made it back to Ontario to see Ralph again.
Margaret called to tell us that Ralph had passed away on Dec. 21st at age 101. In typical Margaret style, she reminded us how Ralph always said he led a blessed and charmed life, words reflected in the beautiful obituary written by his four daughters: “It is with gratitude for a long and blessed life, that we share the passing of our Dad, Grandpa, Great-Grandpa, Husband, Step-father, at the age of 101, at Meyer Drive, Goderich. Dad always said that he had a charmed life and, as luck would have it, after our mother passed away in 1982, he met and married Margaret. He was a loving husband to Margaret for 40 years.”
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Knowing how much Ralph will be missed makes Christmas 2023 special to many of those who dearly loved and admired him.
The best Christmas gift ever given to Brian and me came from Margaret and Ralph, a tiny ceramic church. Brian attached tiny lights that shine through its windows, and it sits on a little table by the stairs leading to the upper floor of our house.
That they gave us the little house during COVID when all churches were closed made it all the more special; a gift that brings a message that Ralph will always be here in memory, and one that makes it Christmas—not just on December 25th, but on every day of the year.
We believe at heart and soul that Ralph, who died in his lifelong faith, is spending this Christmas Eve and Day in Heaven.
Wishing one and all a most Blessed Merry Christmas!
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