Ralph Wm Vertrees, 84, a resident of Austin since 1963, died on December 12. Along with his wife, Martha McAdams Vertrees, Ralph owned and operated a successful real estate, law, and timber investment business in Austin, East Texas, and Northern California for more than fifty years.
He was born on July 6, 1927 in San Angelo, TX to Charles David Vertrees, Sr. and Eloise Faulkner, both geologists. In 1928, they moved to Midland, where Ralph was raised through adolescence at 1211 W. Indiana Ave.
Ralph was a member of the Episcopal Church of the Good Shepherd in Austin and Life Member of the Ex-Students Association of The University of Texas and American Legion, Post 76". Memberships in other professional and service organizations included: Exchange Club of Austin, American Bar Association, Austin Bar Association, Society of Petroleum Engineers, Texas Society of Professional Engineers, and UT SAGE. He belonged to Westwood County Club in Austin, The University of Texas Club, the Austin Knife & Fork Club, and The Ingomar Club of Eureka, CA.
Ralph and Martha were married at her family's home in Austin on October 1, 1949. In 1999, the two celebrated their fiftieth anniversary at Longwood Plantation in Natchez, MS. On this festive occasion, family and friends enjoyed a costume ball with an antebellum theme. In 2009, they celebrated their sixtieth anniversary with a reception and dinner party at The Ingomar Club, which occupies the Carson Mansion in Eureka, CA.
Ralph was among the youngest members of the "Greatest Generation." He graduated from Midland High School in 1945 as president of his class and distinguished himself as captain of the football team. At seventeen, he joined the US Navy and was stationed in San Diego until his discharge on July, 1946, at the grade of Seaman First Class.
He entered the University of Texas at Austin in the fall of 1946 along with thousands of other veterans who were returning from World War II and earned his degree in Petroleum Engineering in 1950. Upon completing the Advanced ROTC Program at UT the following year, he was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant, Corps of Engineers, US Army.
Ralph was employed by Continental Oil Company until he was ordered to active duty in November, 1951. His first assignment was to the 199th Engineer Combat Battalion, Camp McCoy, WI. After completing the Associate Basic Officer's Course at Ft. Belvoir, VA, he was assigned to the Eighth US Army in Korea. Ralph was first attached to the 700th Engineering Pipeline Company in Sagami, Japan, and afterward, for the remainder of his tour of duty, he was assigned to the Japan Petroleum Depot HQ in Yokohama.
In June, 1953, Martha and their eleven-month-old son, Alan, joined him overseas, where they celebrated the Korean War Cease Fire together the following month. In October of this same year, the three sailed back to San Francisco, where Ralph was separated from active duty.
He rejoined Conoco the following month as a civilian Petroleum Engineer. His career with this company took him from South Texas, Oklahoma, and Louisiana to East Texas and Houston. In 1959, he was promoted to Division Engineer, Rocky Mountain Region in Denver, CO, where he worked until his resignation in December, 1963. Ralph and his family returned to Austin, were he entered UT Law School in 1964. He earned his Doctor of Jurisprudence degree in June, 1967.
Predeceased by his parents and sister-in-law, Nancy Reeves McAdams, Ralph is survived by his wife of sixty-two years, Martha McAdams Vertrees; their son Dr. Alan David Vertrees and his wife Susan Stetson Vertrees of Lake Forest, IL; their daughter Marianne Vertrees Law and her husband Louis Edward Law, Jr. of Bend, OR; his grandchildren, Alexander Stetson Vertrees and Peter Stetson Vertrees of Lake Forest, IL and Rachael Law Schuetz and her husband Nicholas Schuetz of Bend, OR; and his brother Charles D. Vertrees, Jr. and his wife Nancy Meredith Vertrees, their daughter, Amy Vertrees, and daughter, Merdith Vertrees LaForce, and her husband Watson LaForce III and their sons, Watson and Holden, all of Dallas.
Other survivors include his brother-in-law Kelly R. McAdams of Austin; sister-in-law, Billye McAdams Muecke, and her husband Dr. Herbert o. Muecke of Huntsville, TX, their son Mark Russell Muecke of Austin and daughter Dr. Marsha Muecke Young, her husband Dr. Russell Young, and their daughters, Claire and Camille, of The Woodlands, TX; and niece, Dr. Claire McAdams, her husband Bennett Luckens, and their son Ethan A. Luckens of Austin and Arcata, CA.
Ralph's family is grateful for the exceptional care in Austin by their primary physician, Dr. Frank E. Robinson; neurologist, Dr. Patience H. Reading; and caregivers with Charlie's Angels Home Health Care, especially Tina Perkins, Travette Perkins and Sandra Kelly.
The family will receive friends Friday, December 16th from 4:00 to 6:00 p.m. at Weed-Corley-Fish Funeral Home, 3125 N. Lamar Blvd., in Austin.
A memorial service will be held at 2:00 p.m. on Saturday, December 17th, at The Episcopal Church of the Good Shepherd, 3201 Windsor Road, Austin, Texas. Interment will follow at Austin Memorial Park on Bull Creek Road.
In lieu of the usual remembrances, the family requests that donations be made to the Episcopal Church of the Good Shepherd, (P.O. Box 5176, Austin, Texas 78763) and/or Hospice Austin, (4107 Spicewood Springs Rd, Suite 100, Austin, Texas 78759).