Rev. Ralph Herbert Kimball's Obituary
On Friday , May 9 , 2008 the Rev. Ralph H. Kimball passed away in Covington. Father Ralph, as he was affectionately known to his myriad friends, was 93 years old. His loving wife, Dottie, of 62 years had predeceased him by a short six weeks on March 23, 2008.
Father Ralph had served his Lord since he was 16 years old when he was the organist/pianist at churches in his hometown of Manchester, NH. He went on to graduate from the University of New Hampshire and Bangor Theological Seminary, Bangor Maine.
Fr. Ralph was originally ordained as a minister in the Congregational Church and he served churches in Maine until he answered the call of his country to serve in WWII. He was commissioned into the Chaplain’s Corps of the US Army Air Corps and served honorably in the China/Burma/India Theaters as well as in North Africa and Southern Europe. Upon leaving the service as a Major, he met the love of his life at the Army post in Greensboro, NC and he and Dottie were married six weeks after they met!
From Greensboro, they went to Virginia Theological Seminary in Alexandria, VA. He was then ordained an Episcopal priest in 1946 in North Carolina where he served churches in several locations before accepting a call to Good Shepherd Episcopal Church in Columbia, SC. In 1956 he accepted a call to St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church on Carrolton Ave. in New Orleans where he served for 25 years. In 1958 he oversaw the beginning of St. Andrew’s Episcopal School which recently celebrated its 50th anniversary with Fr. Ralph in attendance. After “retiring” (a word that Fr. Ralph didn’t really understand), he and Dottie moved to the Northshore in 1981 where he joined the staff of Christ Church, Covington. While at Christ Church, he did “supply” work at churches in Hammond, Ponchatoula and for 10 years at the Church of the Incarnation in Amite. Fr. Ralph was the epitome of a pastor to his flock and if anyone was sick or in any need he would visit them at home, in a hospital, nursing home or anywhere they were to bring comfort and counsel. He truly touched the lives of everyone he met.
Fr. Ralph is survived by his daughter, Priscilla King, of King George, VA and her husband Robert; two granddaughters, Emily King of Auckland, NZ and Charlotte Frame and her husband, Jason, of Mt. Solon, VA; and two great-grandchildren Noah and Madeleine Frame also of Mt. Solon.
Services will be held at Christ Church, 120 S. New Hampshire, Covington, LA 70433 at 10:30 AM on Monday, May 12, 2008. Interment will follow services at Pinecrest Memorial Gardens. Funeral arrangements have been entrusted to E.J. Fielding Funeral Home of Covington, LA. Sign Guest Book online at www.ejfieldingfh.com.
“Well done, good and faithful servant!” Matthew 25:21
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