Goodbye Ralph

My stepfather, Dr Ralph Dell, died peacefully last night at home, in his sleep. He was in the end stage of dementia, and this was a long time coming. Family was around him, we were listening to Paul Simon’s Graceland, and then he just drifted off. It was as good an ending as we could have hoped for.

Ralph had a long and extraordinary life. He was born in a remote Alaskan village; he was one of the youngest full professors in the history of Columbia University’s medical school; he built beautiful custom cabinets using Japanese joinery (no nails!), he programmed computers with punch cards in the 1950s; he was a co-holder of the patent on the electrolyte solution they gave my son in the NICU; the list goes on. He loved nature, science fiction, and the blues. We already miss him.

Here’s Ralph’s official obituary.