Obituary for Dr. Ralph W. Seager

Ralph was my grandmother's cousin, and I have no idea what that made him in relation to me, but I was always fond of him. I've been slowly collecting his out-of-print books over the years when I can find them used on Amazon or Ebay. When I was a kid still living in rural NY, I played violin in the community orchestra. Ralph played trombone and sat behind me, and always joked that if I didn't act right he'd get me with the slide on his trombone. :) He was a good man and a good friend to those who knew him, and he led a very full life. He will be missed.


DR. RALPH W. SEAGER (from the April 23 Penn Yan Chronicle-Express)

PENN YAN — Dr. Ralph W. Seager of Penn Yan passed away quietly at Keuka Comfort Care Home on Sunday, April 20, 2008.


A noted author and poet, Ralph published some 800 poems and essays, as well as several books, among them the well loved and much quoted “Songs from a Willow Whistle”, “Wheatfields and Vineyards”, and “Sound of an Echo”. Among many other themes, his writings expressed his thoughts on faith, love, nature, patriotism, the Christmas Miracle, and the joy of growing up in rural Yates County.


For 20 years Ralph taught creative writing and English at Keuka College, and taught poetry workshops across the United States. His love of teaching was only exceeded by the admiration of his students and colleagues toward him, particularly in his ability to awaken one’s senses to the discovery of the unfamiliar, the beauty of the ordinary, and the potential of the unseen. Ralph was awarded an honorary Doctor of Letters by Keuka College in 1978.


Ralph grew up in Guyanoga Valley, graduated from Penn Yan Academy and spent most of his life in Yates County. As a trombonist, he played in boys’, high school, and village bands for nearly 50 years. His marriage to high school sweetheart Ruth Lovejoy flourished for nearly 73 years until she passed away in 2005. Together they traveled to Africa, Europe, Russia, and across America and Canada, relishing the pleasure of meeting new people of different cultures.


Serving with the Navy and Marines in World War II, Ralph saw duty on Pelelieu in the western Pacific. He was instrumental in the rescue of survivors of the battleship Indianapolis attack in July of 1945.


Ralph continued to write and publish poetry until his death.


He is survived by sister Margaret Drakeley of Penn Yan, sons William, Douglas, and Keith, daughters-in- law DD, Emily, and Linda, seven grandchildren, and 10 great grandchildren.

Nice party last night at friend's house

Hey! I don't remember getting Eric Clapton tickets for my 17th birthday! Man, I missed out!

*Ahem*

So, I went to my friend's son's 17th birthday party last night and had a great time. It's usually close family and friends and him and his friends, and they kinda do their thing and we do ours. He usually makes out like a bandit at these things, as this was no exception. I know he got some cash, $100 in I-tunes gift cards and those Clapton tickets for him and a friend. I told him that he will have people kissing up to him until that concert comes around, lol.

That being said, he deserves it. He made honor roll again this quarter, has steadily brought his grades up in a tough class from a D to a B, and is still volunteering at a nursing home twice a week even though his required hours for school were met quite a while ago. So, I won't hold the Clapton tickets against him. :)

Today, I went through my clothes so that my spring/summer stuff is out and my winter stuff is put away. I still have some laundry to do so not all the winter stuff is away, but that should all be taken care of this week. I didn't realize I had so many capri pants, lol. I know they aren't the most flattering, but they are comfy and a little cooler than pants and I can sit however I want in them but can't in a skirt or dress.

I also had a shopping spree at Payless the other day. I'm really becoming a shoe hound, but it was Payless and they were having their "buy one get the second for 1/2 off" sale, so I paid about $65 for four pairs of shoes -- not too shabby. I got two pairs of slingback peep-toe wedges, one in brown and one in yellow. I also bought some simple black patent pumps and some cute brown & white closed-toe wedges. I really prefer closed-toe shoes to peep-toe, but it's downright difficult to find spring/summer shoes that aren't peep-toe. Oh well, people are just going to have to deal with seeing my toes.

Stitching update

OK, I'm a bit scared posting this, but I think I finally beat the crud I had for about a month. YAY! I was actually able to get in some serious stitching this past weekend, instead of serious napping. I've been working on Skeleton Crew and Tsunami Sampler oer the last few weeks and got a lot done on Tsunami Sampler over the weekend. I'm stitching it using blues, greens and purples as those are my favorite colors. Looking back, I probably should have used DMC instead of variegated flosses, as it makes the sampler a bit busier than I usually like, but I still love the colors and think it will work out. The fabric is actually white, not mottled like it looks in the picture.