|
| |
Yesterday morning Oklahoma lost an amazing family man, business man, warrior, and avid OSU Cowboy fan.
Ralph Mackey was born on February 10th, 1925 in Checotah, Oklahoma. Shortly after high school, Ralph joined the Army Air Corps and was commissioned as a B-17 bomber navigator and bombardier. Ralph was stationed in England and flew bombing missions over Germany until the end of WWII.
Ralph married Pat Wood and together they started a romance with each other and Oklahoma State University that would last 67 years.
Ralph worked his way through Oklahoma A&M and earned a Bachelor of Science Degree in Agriculture in 1948. In 1952, duty called again and Ralph earned fighter pilot wings in the training class designated 52-Charlie. During the Korean War era, Ralph flew and was an instructor in the Lockheed F-94C and F-86 Saber fighters. In business,
Ralph and Pat founded Mackey Vending and grew the business to become one of the largest vending companies in the state.
Ralph and Pat's passions were their two daughters and son, their four grandchildren, and most recently two great grandchildren. He was extremely proud that this family had earned 13 degrees from Oklahoma State and only one degree from OU. They were ardent OSU fans and seldom missed an OSU home game. They both loved to travel nationally and internationally to the 52-Charlie Fighter Pilot reunions. Ralph was an active member of the OSU Posse Club, OSU Alumni Association and the Midwest City Rotary Club.
Ralph is preceded in death by his beloved wife Pat and son Andy Mackey.
He is survived by two daughters and their husbands, Kathy and Larry Roach of Oklahoma City and Karen and Randy Reed of Flower Mound, Texas. The grandchildren are Laura and Jon Shao of Oklahoma City, Stacy and Joe Fusco of Surprise, Arizona and Wesley Reed and Justin Reed both of Austin, Texas. Ralph is survived by two great grandchildren, Joey and Reagan Fusco of Surprise, Arizona. Ralph is also survived by his sister Farrell Prater. No tribute to Ralph would be complete without the mention of Ralph's lifelong best friend Steve Gainor.
Ralph's family would like to extend appreciation to the Arbor House Assisted Living Staff, especially Ann, Shirley and Deborah and the staff at Life Care Hospice.
Funeral
Barnes Friederich Funeral Home
Midwest City, OK
This site may be freely linked, but not duplicated in any way without consent.
All rights reserved! Commercial use of material within this site is prohibited!
© 2000-2024 Oklahoma CemeteriesThe information on this site is provided free for the purpose of researching your genealogy. This material may be freely used by non-commercial entities, for your own research, as long as this message remains on all copied material. The information contained in this site may not be copied to any other site without written "snail-mail" permission. If you wish to have a copy of a donor's material, you must have their permission. All information found on these pages is under copyright of Oklahoma Cemeteries. This is to protect any and all information donated. The original submitter or source of the information will retain their copyright. Unless otherwise stated, any donated material is given to Oklahoma Cemeteries to make it available online. This material will always be available at no cost, it will always remain free to the researcher.