Ralph S. Durham

Funeral services for Ralph S. Durham, age 89 of Lindale, Texas, is scheduled for 3:00 p. m. Thursday, September 1, 2022, at the Caudle-Rutledge-Daugherty Funeral Home Chapel in Lindale. Family will receive friends an hour prior to the service. Interment will follow at the Lindale City Cemetery. Ralph peacefully met his Lord and Savior on Friday, August 26, 2022 in Tyler, TX and joyfully reunited with his wife, Barbara. He was born July 9, 1933 in Fort Worth, Texas. Ralph was a resident of Lindale for over 30 years and was previously a resident of Tyler. During his life Ralph was a Man of Many Hats. He was a Military Man, Construction Man, a Police Man, a Mason, a Scottish Rite Shriner, a Christmas Tree Farmer, a Caldwell Zoo Security Officer, and a wonderful Husband, Father, “Poppie” and Friend. Ralph joined the US Navy in May of 1950 and was assigned to USS Paricutin (AE18) an ammunition supply ship. He received the Korean Service, National Defense and United Nations Ribbons. After his Honorable discharge from the Navy in 1954 he met and married Barbara, the love of his life. He worked as a carpenter’s apprentice from 1954 through 1957, then partnered with his brother Max Durham installing acoustical ceilings for many years and took the family all around Texas. He joined the Tyler Police Department as a patrol officer in 1967. He studied hard and completed the required crime lab course work qualifying him for transfer to the Criminal Identification Division as an Identification Officer. After 5 years with Tyler Police Department, he wanted to spend more time with his growing family and Macham Acoustics needed a good Superintendent so returned to the Acoustical Ceiling Installation business. In 1982 he and his wife Barbara opened Durham’s Holiday Hill Christmas Tree Farm in Lindale TX. In 1987 he went to work as a Security Officer at Caldwell Zoo in Tyler TX where he worked until his retirement in 1997. Ralph was a Reserve Law Enforcement Officer serving as a Deputy Constable for many years with Smith County. He also was a co-owner of The You Name It Shop in Tyler and Lindale TX for 26 years. Outside of work, Ralph was a member of the T.R. Bonner Lodge 764 in Mt Sylvan since 1982, raised to a Master Mason in 1986, and became an Endowed Member in 1987. He was certified as Past Master of the T.R. Bonner Lodge 764 in 1992 and was accepted into the Scottish Rite as a 32nd Degree Freemason in 1997. He was a member of the Tyler Civitan Club. A volunteer and a sponsor of the Great Texas Balloon Race in Longview TX for 10 years. He and his wife Barbara were active square dancers and members of the East Texas Square & Round Dance Association and were honored with the first Square Dancer Couple of the Year award presented in 1974. Ralph and Barbara served as President of that organization in 1999. Ralph loved the many years of his life spent in law enforcement working as a City of Tyler Police Officer, acquiring additional certifications and transferring to the Tyler PD Crime Lab, and later serving as a Deputy Constable for Smith County and then as a Sergeant in the security department at Caldwell Zoo in Tyler. Ralph was preceded in death by his wife of 67 years, Barbara J. Durham, his parents, Burl Hubbard, Sr. and Pearl Mae Davis Durham, his brothers Burl Hubbard Durham, Jr. and Pearless Maxwell (Max) Durham, his sister, Johnnie Lois Durham, and Son-in-Law, Ric Lindsey. He is survived by his children, Robert Durham and wife, Judy of Lindale, Ray Durham and wife, Sherri of Edom, Sherri Whatley and husband, Mark of Tyler, Rhonda Cameron and husband, Brian of Lindale; grandchildren, Chassity Sukiennik and husband, Cris of Flint, Nicole Sikes and husband, David of Whitehouse, Kandice Durham of Flint, Jessica Johnson and husband Nick of Granbury, Jacob Hinds and wife, Sarah of Seattle, Allie Durham of Bedford, Erin Salyer and husband, Quincy of Lindale, Audrey Stinson and husband, Hunter of Tyler, Garrett Cameron of Lindale, and Brianna Tankersley and husband, Derick of Alaska; 18 great grandchildren and numerous other loving family members and friends. Serving as pallbearers will be Garrett Cameron, Jacob Hinds, Nick Johnson, Quincy Salyer, Hunter Stinson, and Cris Sukiennik. Honorary pallbearers include Chassity Sukiennik, Nicole Sikes, David Sikes, Kandice Durham, Jessica Johnson, Allie Durham, Erin Salyer, Audrey Stinson, and Brianna Tankersley. Should you desire, the family requests memorial contributions be made to the Permanent Endowment Fund of the Masonic Home and School of Texas, https://www.masonichometx.org/history/ then click Donate Now link, or to the Texas Teen Scholarship for Square and Round Dancing High School Graduates fund, https://squaredancetx.com/TTSSRDHSG/2021-2022%20StandardContributionForm.pdf

Ralph S. Durham

July 9, 1933 - August 26, 2022