Ralph E. "Ralphie" Hamilton
April 13, 1951 - August 02, 2006


Also Known as “THE BOSS” (of the Florida Boomers) and “Ralphie”

Written by Janice Hamilton


Ralph was born on Friday, April 13, 1951, the second of ten children in Birmingham, AL. Contrary to popular belief, Ralph always considered Friday the 13th his lucky day!

He dropped out of school at sixteen to help support his family, by working at a local grocery store. It wasn’t uncommon for him to work “off the clock” without the benefit of pay, in order to help his boss get things done.

He joined the Navy at the age of eighteen to see the world, but sent his salary home to help out his Mom and Dad. Once, while on a Mediterranean cruise, he was dared to enter a rodeo. (Keep in mind that Ralph had never even seen a bull before). He ended up in the hospital after the bull did a tap dance on his ear!

In 1970, he was shipped to Newport, R.I. where he met his SOULMATE, (That would be me!) Janice, affectionately knick-named “Weezie”. I consider February 12, 1971 to be my “lucky” day! We had a whirlwind romance and were married in November of that same year. God would later bless us with our two children, Teri and Kevin.

Through the encouragement of Paul, our brother-in-law and best friend, Ralph learned the trade of lock-smithing. He became a great ”safecracker” (which was his iRV2 handle) and worked for Diebold Corporation for eleven years. In 1987 we moved our family to sunny Florida.

Ralph always said that he wanted to enjoy life before retirement. Maybe he knew that the Lord would take him home before he would ever reach retirement age. We bought a small locksmith business in 1989 and built it into a very profitable corporation. For a guy who had to quit school at the age of sixteen and always considered himself uneducated, I’d say that Ralph Hamilton did okay for himself.

Our son Kevin came on board after high school and Ralph showed him the ropes. As Kevin became more experienced, we were able to take more time off. Ralph’s friend Lewis Mann, a fellow camper, found the iRV2 website and posted that we were looking for people in our age bracket in Florida who’d like to meet up and camp together. We immediately met some great friends and named our group “The Florida Boomers”!!! We had a ball camping and meeting up with friends old and new, whom we met through iRV2. Ralph was a real presence on the site and you never knew what he would come out with next. Of course everything was turned up a notch when Cheri Cooke found us. Many of you may remember “The Ralph and Cheri Show”.

We originally started out with a small Fifth Wheel, then progressed to a larger Fifth Wheel, and finally to a thirty eight-foot Safari Cheetah Motorhome in May of 2004. We were able to take one long trip and some weekend trips with our Boomer friends before we received the cancer diagnosis in September of 2004. Needless to say, our lives changed dramatically after that and Ralph wasn’t able to drive the Motorhome again since the cancer had already entered his brain.

We were overwhelmed and grateful for the love, support, posts, phone calls and cards received from the Boomers, both from Florida and all around the country. That kindness comforted us and boosted Ralph’s morale during that very long and brave fight.

Ralph went to be with his Lord on August 2, 2006 at the age of fifty-five.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Madame Boomer,

Original post made August 02, 2006 at 02:16 pm

Hello "Florida Boomers" and other iRV2 Members,


With deep regrets, Cheri Cooke "Cookestwo" on iRV2, has notified me of the passing of Ralph Hamilton, the founder of the Florida Boomers and our long time member. Ralph, who was known to us here at iRV2 as "Safcrkr", passed away this morning at 11:20 after a long battle with cancer.

We will miss him much and our deepest and heartfelt sympathies are extended to his family and friends.

Cheri has asked for the posting of the following tribute to Ralpie, it's my honor to be called upon to place the post:

quote:

The "BOSS" Home

It is with a broken heart that I am sharing the very sad news, of the loss of our dear friend and “brother”, Ralphie. He passed away at 11:20 this morning, with his precious Weezie and family by his side.

Such a bitter sweet moment, knowing that Ralph is now walking and dancing with the Lord, just like David did in the Old Testament. We are rejoicing that he is finally “home” even though we are all left with a Ralph-shaped hole in our hearts.

To all you RV'ers out there, you know how much Ralphie loved camping with the Boomers and keeping in touch with them through the iRV2.com website. His second to the last posting count was 2240 but I know he would want credit for his last posting under Janet's login which brought his final total to 2241. I don't think there will ever be a doubt in anyone's mind, that Ralphie was the BOSS of the FLORIDA BOOMERS!

Ron and I first met Ralph and Janice (aka Bubba and Weezie), at a Florida Boomers RV Rally 3 years ago. Who could have known then, how much we would come to love them and what a short time we would have with Ralph, this side of Heaven. Many of you have heard me say that Janice has been like a sister to me and Ralph, like the brother I never had.

Over the years, Ralph referred to me as, “Missy”. I’m not sure why, but the name stuck and soon I was referring to myself as “Missy”also.

Looking back on the relationship I had with Ralphie brings a smile to my face and laughter to my soul. He teased me unmercifully, so much so, that many folks thought we had been married and divorced. That could have been because Ralph referred to me as his “ex”. When he and Janice first met with their Oncologist, his sister, daughter, Janice and I were all present. Ralph introduced all of us leaving me until last, and once again, introduced me as his “ex”. I can only imagine what his doctor thought about his ex-wife being there. I was thinking what an honor it has been to call both he and Janice, “Friends” but I think the greatest honor occurred last year when he named his little dachshund, “Missy”.

On July 20th, Janice called to tell me that Ralph was very weak and probably didn’t have much time left with us. We talked, reminisced and cried, while reliving many of his antics. Part way through our conversation, Ralph awoke from his rest, and Janice asked if I would like to speak to him. It took, me a couple of minutes to regain my composure and while Janice held the phone next to his ear, I told Ralphie how much we loved him and about all the joy he brought to our lives. I told him we would take good care of Weezie and finally, that if he got to Heaven before me, to please save me a place. In his sweet but very frail voice, he said, “You’ll be old and wrinkled by then!” Through all the pain and suffering, he still had his wonderful sense of humor.

We miss you, Little Buddy.

Love,
Missy

Funeral Arrangements will be posted as soon as they are known.

quote:

Mrs. Janice Hamilton
12217 NW 8th Place
Newberry, FL 32669

added on edit:

quote:

Originally posted by Cookestwo:
VIEWING
Friday, August 4th at 6:00pm
Williams-Thomas Funeral Home
823 NW 143rd Street
Newberry, FL
352-376-7556

SERVICES
Saturday, August 5th at 11:00am
Family Church
2022 SW 122nd St.
Gainesville, FL
352-332-6459

Richard

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Madame Boomer,

Moved Reply:

I am so sorry to hear about Ralphie. We had been on the road and had to come back because my mothe rhad a heart attack on Labor Day. Life had been very busy but we will always remember Ralphie's humor and making the rallies interesting. Please tell Weezie we love her.
Love
Joe and Isabel Clayton

Moved Reply:

Sima and I were saddened to learn of Ralph's passing. Yet, we are glad that he is no longer suffering.

I remember that first Florida Boomer rally. We caravaned together from Gainesville, our former home. Ralph was a take charge guy and had a large cardboard sign in the bed of his pickup to alert all first time Boomers of our location.

Ralph, Janice, Sima and I took several camping trips together both before and after the Boomers formed. We had lots of good times together.

Back in Gainesville Ralph was a good friend always ready to help out If he could.

Janice, we look forward to visiting with you in October when we're back in Gainesville.

Moved Reply:

Barb & I send our prayers to the Hamilton family in this time of loss. Janice, we hope the support of your Boomer family will help you get through the days ahead.

Having met Ralph at our first Boomer gathering in 2002, I quickly discovered he was the heartbeat of the group and always went out of his way to make everyone feel welcome. Hopefully, he is making plans for that one big Boomer rally we will all one day attend.

Moved Reply:

We never had the honor of meeting Ralphie but I have read many of his posts here. Clearly he was a wonderful person and our deepest sympathy goes to his wife, Janice and their family (including Missy). He obviously had a strong constitution as I have read here his long battle with cancer. He really hung in there. Our thoughts are with you.
Lynn & George

Moved Reply:

Our most sincere condolences to Janice,family and friends. It was always a pleasure camping with Ralph and Janice.

Tom and Pat Mitchell

Moved Reply:

One of the friendliest people I have met. He and his wonderful wife included us in two of your rally's, as guests, but we never felt like guests, but friends. Our deepest sympathy to his family.

Moved Reply:

Even though we all new this day would come there is still a deep sadness in the hearts of the Boomers.
Ralph lived his life to the fullest. He tried to be the first to the Rally so he could assist you in setting up or making sure that everything was going as planned. Ralph was always supporting IRV2 with signs and handouts to anyone that asked about it, he was their greatest supporter.
Janice and Family the love Ralph has shown you and the rest of us will never be forgotten. He will always be with us wherever we camp.
Ralph keep the campfire burning,

Audi Wendt
TheCapt aka Derek
RVLivin Moderator

This message has been edited. Last edited by: rebelsbeach,

Moved Reply:

Our sincere sympathies to the family and friends.
Mike