- Date Of Birth: March 28, 1923
- Date Of Death: November 5, 2019
- State: Colorado
Ralph E. Dorn, 96, of Grand Junction, Colorado, passed away on November 5, 2019, VA Community Living Center.
When a loved one passes away, perhaps the thing you miss the most is their smile. So it is with our parents, Ralph and Ann Dorn, who passed on not quite four months apart, both at age 96. We are comforted by photos of their smiles together across a lifetime.
As members of the Greatest Generation, they were lifelong doers, helpers and givers.
Ann was raised in central Florida and was often at the side of her country physician father, whom she dearly loved. She was an educator who began her career teaching home economics and health in Santa Fe, New Mexico and later taught at the Colegio Presbiteriano in Caibarien, Cuba from 1948 to 1953. She became fluent in Spanish and was well-regarded and much loved by her colleagues and students. During this time, she experienced the tragedy of her parents’ and grandmother’s death in a automobile accident.
Ralph and Ann experienced joys and endured great sorrows during their 65 years of marriage. They enjoyed travel and explored the region during their first years here, as they worked and raised a family. The death of their son Larry at age 14 was heartbreaking.
They are survived by daughters Karalyn Dorn and Marian Dorn (Tom Merrill) and extended family across the country.
The Grand Valley has lost the presence of two good, decent people. We miss their smiles, but carry them forever in our hearts.
