William Ralph Mayes, 90, passed away from natural causes at Brookdale Meridian in Englewood, Colo. on May 26, 2024.
Ralph was born in Mountain View, Okla. on Oct. 19, 1933 to Leta Mae Bottom Mayes and Johnny Ernest Mayes.
As a working family in the Dirty Thirties, the Mayeses packed up and sought a better life, even renting the shade of the tree in Bakersfield, Calif. on their journey to Hermiston, where they laid down their roots. Always a hard worker, Ralph got his first big break when he was hired as a fry cook for the railroad. From there, his ingenuity and dedication eventually helped him to land a position as a telemetry technician at NASA, stationed at Edwards Air Force Base in Southern California. If NASA ever needed a specialty part created for a plane, this assignment was given to Ralph with full confidence that he would come up with the perfect solution.
Ralph met coworker Mike Cahill in 1973 and was introduced to Mike’s wife, Judy, five years later. As the Cahill family grew with daughters Katherine (1985) and Cassandra (1991), Ralph became an unofficially adopted grandfather to the girls. Upon Ralph’s retirement from NASA in 1986 and Lockheed-Martin in 1995, he dedicated a huge part of his life to being there for his two granddaughters, traveling to see them wherever the Cahill family was located at the time. He also spent a portion of each year caring for his mother in Hermiston, then traveled to visit family and friends in California and Oklahoma.
Utilizing his immense talent for craftsmanship, Ralph became the jack-of-all-trades handyman, helping family, friends, neighbors, and all others wherever he went. In his later years, he settled in Morrison, Colo. near the Cahill family. He cooked fried chicken dinners to share with them, treated his granddaughters to all kinds of adventures, and often looked after Katherine’s dog Taya who became his constant, loving, and gentle companion in his last decade.
Throughout his long, storied life, Ralph touched the lives of innumerable people with his kindness, friendliness, willingness to help anyone in need, and his bursting sense of humor. He had a deep love for his family, enjoyed playing with dogs and waving at children, and he was always ready to have a good time. A friend of the Cahills once said, “Everyone needs a Ralph,” a statement which rings exceedingly true and will be held forever in the hearts of those who carry his memory forward. His curiosity, adventurous spirit, humor, and love, will be sorely missed by all those who loved him.
Ralph is survived by his sister, June. He was preceded in death by his father and mother, Johnny and Leta Mae; his sister, Lela; and his brothers, Jackie, Johnny, and James. May he rest in peace in the arms of God and his family.
Ralph’s beautiful life journey will be remembered in a celebration of life ceremony at Brookdale Meridian Englewood on Sunday, June 30, 2-4 p.m.
To honor Ralph’s memory, the Cahill family has set up a fundraiser through The Smile Train, a charity organization that provides corrective surgeries to children with cleft lips and palates. Ralph had immeasurable compassion and hated to see people suffering. He had a particular soft spot for children, and he was touched deeply when seeing photos of children born with clefts. He always said, “When I win the lottery, I’m going to pay for a thousand of those children to get the surgery they need.” Donations can be made in Ralph’s honor at https://www.mysmiletrain.org/campaign/ralphmayesmemorial.
