Silver Taps Notification

Tuell - McKee Funeral Home obituary
2215 Sixth Avenue, Tacoma, WA
(253) 272-1414

 Ralph Saenz Duke 
(August 24, 1925 - November 8, 2014)

Ralph Saenz Duke was born in Laredo, Texas on August 24, 1925, to Consuelo Leticia Saenz Duke (born in Nuevo Laredo, Mexico) and William Innes Kelly Duke (born in Pendleton, Texas). He was named after his mother’s recently deceased brother Rafael Winslow Saenz. Ralph grew up in Laredo, Texas surrounded by family members living in Laredo (USA) and Nuevo Laredo (Mexico). When his World War II pilot training ended due to vision problems, he trained as an airplane mechanic and came to post-war Germany, where he visited Nuremberg to spend one of his days off to see the war crimes trials.

After the war he returned to Texas, where he resumed his studies at Texas A&M. During that time he met Gloria Lachele, who was working at Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas. Their first date was a Big Band dance where Ralph spent a dime for drinks and 25 cents for ice. Dancing and careful spending were a hallmark of what was to become their 60 year marriage. Their relationship’s early days were nurtured by many letters between Ralph, living at College Station (A&M) and Gloria, living in San Antonio. As Ralph commented in a 2001 conversation, “At the end of my senior year, I graduated from A&M on June 4, 1949, got married [in San Antonio] on June 7 of 1949,and on June 16 I went to work for Sears Roebuck. So I had three important things happen to me in June of 1949.”

Because Ralph was English-Spanish bilingual, Sears started him in a management position in their Laredo store. There were plans to send him to Sears’ Mexico City office, but after three years in Laredo,Sears decided to transfer him to its Chicago headquarters, to work as a buyer. In that position he visited a number of factories in Europe and Asia. He and Gloria lived twelve years in “Yankeeland,” which was Elmhurst, a suburb of Chicago. Their four children were raised as Texans and as Aggie fans, using “ma’am” and “sir” when speaking to adults and regularly hearing stories and songs of Texas Aggies. The Duke family was active in Elmhurst schools, the local Methodist church, and YMCA activities. Ralph and Gloria’s hopes of returning to Texas were realized when he was transferred to Sears’ Dallas office.

In Dallas, Ralph became interested in physical fitness and was one of the first joggers in his neighborhood, attracting attention as he ran through local streets in the early morning. He also bought a small motorboat to water ski with his children at the nearest lake, and enjoyed family swimming at the neighborhood pool. He and his family were active in the Walnut Hill Methodist Church. Having heard Jesus speak to him while jogging, Ralph became a born-again Christian, and started to volunteer at Billy Graham crusade events in the Dallas area.

Ralph was transferred back to Sears’ Chicago office in 1978. He and Gloria lived in Oak Park, Illinois for ten years. There they were active members of Calvary Memorial Church. As soon as he retired from Sears, they returned to Texas, settling in San Antonio.There, his time was spent reconnecting with family and old friends,while meeting new ones through race walking and Texas Aggie Club meetings. He and Gloria were active learners and travelers who attended 22 different Elder Hostel/Road Scholars programs. Together, they also volunteered at Bible Study Fellowship headquarters, participated in various activities at Shearer Hills Baptist church, worked out at the health club, and regularly enjoyedsquare dancingplus sometimes Big Band dancing.

In San Antonio, Ralph and Gloria were pleased to be living near their daughter Laura and her two young children. As other grandchildren came into the family, they travelled to visit them periodically in Washington, California, and other parts of Texas. Every five years or so, they hosted a total of four family reunions for all of their children and grandchildren, combined with larger reunions including the extended family of Duke and Lachele relatives.

After Gloria’s death in 2009, Ralph came to live with Jim and Laura Vickers in Southlake, Texas. There he made a new life working out at home and the health club, playing dominoes and eating lunch at the local senior center, and regularly attending Keller Baptist Church. However, the combination of advancing glaucoma and increasingly erratic blood pressure kept him in bedridden or in a special wheelchair for increasing portions of his time. In the spring of 2013, Ralph’s children took him and his wheelchair on a driving trip to visit family and friends in San Antonio and Laredo. Soon after, he was moved to the F. Tobey Jones facility in Tacoma, Washington, near the home of Paul and Lisa Duke and their two daughters.

Ralph looks forward to seeing his parents and beloved wife Gloria in heaven. He is survived by his children Ron and Chris Duke, Paul and Lisa Duke, Laura and Jim Vickers, and Kathryn Duke and Niels Kjellund. Other family he leaves behind are his siblings Jim and Rosemary Duke, Doris Valls, and Evelyn Lachele; his ten grandchildren, and his four great-grandchildren.

Ralph’s life will be publicly celebrated at several locations and times: Tobey Jones in Tacoma, Washington on Nov. 12, 7:30 pm; Keller (Texas) Baptist Church at noon, Nov. 15; and a TBD date and location in the San Antonio area. His mortal remains will be buried at Fort Sam Houston, next to those of his beloved Gloria.

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Additional information from friend of the family:

Memorials may be sent to:

Ralph S and Gloria L Duke Endowment Fund
Moody Bible Institute
820 N. LaSalle, Chicago, IL   60610

Ralph S and Gloria L Duke Home Town Endowment
The Salvation Army
521 W Elmira
San Antonio, TX  78212

Ralph S Duke  #105429667
World Vision
PO Box 9716
Federal Way, WA  98063
888-511-6519