MinterExchange
Dedicated to Minter families everywhere
First Name:  Last Name: 
[Advanced Search]  [Surnames]

Ralph Lee Minter

Male 1921 - 2012  (90 years)


Personal Information    |    Sources    |    All    |    PDF

  • Name Ralph Lee Minter 
    Birth 27 Jun 1921  Pine Forest, Hopkins County, Texas, USA Find all individuals with events at this location  [1
    Gender Male 
    _UID C36E10076A0F4B6D9F6566A3650035B5D53E 
    Death 26 Apr 2012  Wichita, Sedgwick County, Kansas, USA Find all individuals with events at this location  [1
    Burial Resthaven Gardens of Memory, Wichita, Sedgwick County, Kansas, USA Find all individuals with events at this location  [1
    Notes 
    • From findagrave.com, Feb 2015:
      RALPH LEE MINTER was born on 27 June 1921 in Pine Forest, Texas to Emmett Bascom Minter (1882-1945) and Ruby Odell Bryarly-Minter (1888-1929).

      As a boy, Ralph first attended school at the "school house" in Pine Forest; built in 1912 and demolished in 1989. Later, when he got to the upper grades, Ralph went to high school at Pickton, Texas, from which he graduated. Pickton is south of Pine Forest, Texas, 6.3 miles.

      One can imagine the sort of idyllic life Ralph enjoyed growing up in the country near Pine Forest before the war. His Dad's farm was about a mile east of Pine Forest on what is now County Road 3372. This farm boasted a beautiful spring fed pool stocked with fish, which attracted some attention. Ralph's Uncle Gus Minter loved to fish in that pool. He would walk from his home several miles away with his fishing gear and spend an afternoon at the pool. Ralph would go down to the fishing hole with him sometimes just to spend time with him and to help him. Gus would send him to catch grasshoppers that were used for bait. Gus would thread a grasshopper on his hook, then spit tobacco juice on it before casting the line. He told Ralph that the fish couldn't resist that bait.

      In the years preceding the war, Ralph taught himself how to play the family piano, and he spent lots of leisure hours pounding out tunes on it. After his maternal grandfather died, Silas Wright Bryarly, Ralph was given the old man's fiddle, which he also learned to play by ear. These musical abilities made him popular at local gatherings.

      In 1942 Ralph joined the Army Air Corps (now known as the Airforce). After Basic Training, he was assigned to an Air Traffic Control Unit, and worked in a Control Tower. All that time Ralph was trying everything he knew to get an appointment as an Aviation Cadet, and to get sent to receive flight training. He applied for a position as a cadet and progressed as far as classification where he received a comprehensive physical examination. He was rejected on physical grounds for pilot training because of an old elbow injury. Shouldering that disappointment, he applied for aircrew gunnery training, which he was accepted to after signing a physical waiver for exceeding the height regulations allowed.

      Ralph trained in aerial Gunnery at Duncan Field in San Antonio, Texas. Following the training, he was sent to England, and was assigned to and served with the 8th Air Force in Europe. During the war (World War II), he served as a tail gunner in combat. After the war, Ralph was awarded the Presidential Unit Citation, the Air Medal, and the European Theater Operations (ETO) Service Medal with battle stars.

      Ralph's mother Ruby died at the relatively young age of 41 years. His father Emmett was tragically murdered in 1945 across the street from the Hopkins's County Courthouse in Sulphur Springs, Texas. Like something out of an old Western movie, Emmett was shot in the back. The murderer was tried and convicted in that same courthouse then sent to prison were he died years later.

      In 1945, Ralph married Jaynelle "Jay" Adwon in Austin, Texas. Jay was from Wetumka, Oklahoma, and like Ralph she became a teacher, and taught the elementary grades. Jay had a son, Robert "Bob" Minter (b. 1943), whom Ralph adopted. Ralph and Jay also adopted a girl, Cynthia Maureen "Cindy" Minter (b. 1949).

      After the war, Ralph used the benefits of the "G.I. Bill" to continue his education. He graduated with a bachelor's degree from Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas. He subsequently completed graduate studies at Oklahoma State University, and later earned his Master's Degree at Wichita State University in Kansas. After leaving college, he joined the education profession as a teacher. He taught science in the McAlester, Oklahoma schools. Later he was hired as a school counselor in the Wichita, Kansas school system.

      In 1980, Ralph retired early from the education profession in order to join his wife, Jay, in a business of buying and selling antique dolls and toys. Together, Ralph and Jay traveled all over the country attending Antique Shows, where they bought and sold their line of products. That was a way of life for them for over twenty years, and until their retirement in 2001.

      Ralph passed away, Thursday, April 26, 2012 in Wichita, Sedgwick County, Kansas.
      ____________________________________________________
      Details (10-23-01) from Dennis J. "Jack" Robinson, a Minter descendant and family researcher/archivist
      ____________________________________________________

      OBITUARY:
      Cochran Mortuary & Crematory,
      1411 N. Broadway
      Wichita, Kansas 67214

      MINTER, RALPH L., 90, retired USD 259 Teacher and Counselor, former owner of Minter Antique Dolls & Toys & a WWII U.S. Army Air Corps B-17 tail gunner, passed away, Thursday, April 26, 2012.

      Visitation with the family present, 5:30 '96 8 p.m. Monday, Cochran Mortuary, 1411 N. Broadway. (Parking from Market St.) Private Family graveside service will be held.

      Preceded in death by his parents, 4 sisters, 1 brother and 1 grandchild, Angie Landers. Survivors include his wife, Jaynelle of the home; son, Robert (Karen) of Wichita; daughter, Cindy M. (Steve) Dishun of Middletown, OH; grandson, Vincent R. (Julie) Minter; great grandchildren, Lauren Elaine Minter, Andrew Blake Minter, Jacob Patrick Minter, and Alexa Jerlean Minter. In lieu of flowers, a memorial has been established with the Ralph L. Minter Memorial Scholarship Fund, c/o Friends University.
    Person ID I2052  America
    Last Modified 22 Jul 2016 

    Father Emmett Bascom Minter,   b. 21 Jun 1882, Pine Forest, Hopkins County, Texas, USA Find all individuals with events at this locationd. 24 Jan 1945, Sulphur Springs, Hopkins County, Texas, USA Find all individuals with events at this location (Age 62 years) 
    Mother Ruby Odell BRYARLY,   b. 5 Jan 1887, Sulphur Springs, Hopkins County, Texas, USA Find all individuals with events at this locationd. 10 Dec 1929, Pine Forest, Hopkins County, Texas, USA Find all individuals with events at this location (Age 42 years) 
    Marriage 8 Sep 1907  Sulphur Springs, Hopkins County, Texas, USA Find all individuals with events at this location  [1
    Family ID F972  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

    Family Jaynelle "Jay" ADWON,   b. 31 Jan 1924, Wetumka, Oklahoma, USA Find all individuals with events at this locationd. 4 Apr 2013, Wichita, Sedgwick County, Kansas, USA Find all individuals with events at this location (Age 89 years) 
    Marriage 1945  Austin, Travis County, Texas, USA Find all individuals with events at this location  [1
    Children 
     1. Robert Minter
     2. Cynthia Maureen "Cindy" Minter
    Family ID F987  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
    Last Modified 6 Feb 2015 

  • Sources 
    1. [S66] findagrave.com, November 2014 and later.