Published: September 06, 2008 10:23 pm            

Ralph O. Yeager

Surrounded by family, Ralph O. Yeager, 89, formerly of Terre Haute, passed away Sept. 2, 2008, at St. Therese of New Hope, Minn. He was born Jan. 13, 1919, in Danville, Ill., to Ralph O. Yeager Sr. and Margaret Murray Yeager. He was a U.S. Navy veteran of the Pacific Theater in World War II, posted on the heavy cruiser, the USS Louisville, and later on the aircraft carrier, the USS Sangamon, on which he served as a damage control officer. A graduate of the Laboratory High School of Indiana State Teachers College and the University of Illinois, after the war he joined his father in Yeager Architects in Terre Haute, later to be joined by his brother, Murray (Pete) Yeager. Among other buildings in the city, he designed the St. Margaret Mary Church and rectory, the former Schulte High School, and various buildings on the Indiana State University campus. He later led the Minneapolis office of Ellerbe Architects in the 1960s, followed by positions in architectural firms in Chicago and Southern California. In the mid-1970s he lived in Iran, overseeing the construction of hospitals and medical schools there before the Iranian revolution.

He was preceded in death by his parents; his brother; his wife, Joanne Yeager and his first wife, Dorothy Cleary Yeager, the mother of his children.

He is survived by his sister, Margaret (Peggy) Jones of Corte Madera, Calif.; sister-in-law, Clair Corrigan of Wayzata, Minn.; daughter and son-in-law Mary (Tina) and Tom Beckley of Boulder, Colo.; three sons and daughters-in-law, Peter Yeager and Kathy Kram of Framingham, Mass., Jon and Susan Yeager of Golden Valley, Minn., and Riff and Dianne Yeager of Plymouth, Minn,; stepdaughter and son-in-law, Diane and Harry Stephens of Rancho Mirage, Calif.; 10 grandchildren, Matthew Carlstrom, Melissa Beckley Castro, Adam Beckley, Jacob Beckley, Jason Yeager, Brooke Wylie, Sally Wylie, Zachary Hoey, Brett Yeager and Erin Yeager; two great-grandchildren, Reeves Beckley and Mia Castro; and many nieces and nephews.

A private family celebration of his life is being planned. His ashes will be immured at Palm Springs Mausoleum in Cathedral City, Calif. Memorial contributions may be sent to St. Therese of New Hope, 8000-8008 Bass Lake Road, New Hope, MN, 55428.

        

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