Ralph Edward Guy
Born: September 9th, 1917
Died: January 2nd, 2014
Obituary
Mr. Ralph Edward Guy, 96, of Burlington died at 10:22 a.m. Thursday, January 2, 2014, at Great River Hospice House in West Burlington.
Born in Waterloo, IA on September 9, 1917, he was the only son of Kline and Cora Guy. He married Betty June Sindahl on October 16, 1938.
Mr. Guy was a 1937 graduate of Franklin High School in Cedar Rapids. He was employed by Bill Kacena, delivering oxygen and acetylene while taking post graduate classes at Franklin. It was in high school he met his "soul mate", the "love of his life" Betty and they recently celebrated their 75th wedding anniversary. Ralph was his class president and well known as "one of the four horsemen" during his football days. He also participated in track, basketball and Golden Gloves boxing. He was preceded in death by three of his four sisters, Loretta Morrow, Gwendolyn O'Farrell and Dora Jones. The one sister, Lorraine McDonagh of Ponca City, OK survives. Ralph and Betty have two children, Terry Guy of Scotts Valley, CA and Burlington and Kendal Guy-Dionne formerly of Seattle, WA and now residing in Burlington. There are five grandchildren, Glen (Christine) Guy of Santa Cruz, CA, Superior Court Judge Denine Guy (Berkley Brannon) of Aptos, CA and one deceased grandson, Kenneth Guy. There are three Dionne grandsons, Dominique, Damien and Donovan and eight great grandchildren. Ralph Guy managed several Kacena Welding Co. and Industrial Supplies branches; one in Ottumwa during the war and in Burlington, retiring in 1982 in Burlington.
He was a long time member of Carthage Lake Club and in the 50s a member of the Elks and Rotary. He enjoyed bowling and fishing and hunting in his earlier years. His pride and joy was his rural home which he built in 1953 on their five acre yard with pond. Ralph continued to cut the grass up to this year. The Guys also traveled extensively to many foreign lands, covered every state eventually in their motorhome. Many active years were spent on the river by boating, pontooning, water skiing and camping out. Until 2008 he had an extensive collection of Indian artifacts which was listed in "Who's Who" in American Indian Relics. Ralph and Betty were active in the Art Guild, as participants showing their metal sculptures and her paintings in varied mediums. There will be a private graveside funeral service for Mr. Guy in Aspen Grove Cemetery with a memorial service to be held later in the spring. Memorials have been established for Burlington Art Guild and Great River Hospice.