Local 706 - The Artisan

In Memoriam Ralph was born at home on February 26, 1936, in Hydro, OK; he was the youngest of five children and sometimes affec- tionately known as Ralphie. His family moved to Vale, OR, in 1937, where his fam- ily farmed the land; the family then moved to Albany, OR, in the Willamette Valley. Ralph was active in the local 4H Club raising Hereford cattle and he graduated from Albany High. After high school, Ralph served in Korea after the Korean War as part of the Army Occupational Forces; Ralph was proud of his service and enjoyed attending recognition services—especially when free food was involved. After his enlistment, Ralph graduated from Oregon State College in Corvallis, OR. He then moved to San Bernardino, CA, and took a position at a J.C. Penney department store. Ralph used this job as a stepping-stone to pursue his dreams of working in Hollywood. He worked as a model and began to attend cosmetology school with the intentions of becom- ing a make-up artist. He eventually worked as an instructor at Elegance International and taught future Local 706 artists Ken Diaz, Norman Page and Sue Cabral-Ebert—among many others. Ralph worked for decades as the Head of Make-up & Hair Styling at Disneyland, starting in the 1970s. Ralph would tend the wigs for the Disney characters, the can-can dancers in the Golden Horseshoe Review in Frontierland, and he touched up Abraham Lincoln in Great Moments with Lincoln and the characters lining the banks of the Pirates of the Caribbean. He oversaw many of the costumed characters in Disneyland's street parades, and he was instrumental in establishing many of the make-up and hair looks for the characters. Ralph's real talents shone with his skills in creating prosthetic features and dentures for the Disney cast. While Ralph worked at Disneyland, he also worked as a make-up artist for the daytime drama The Young and the Restless. Ralph and the make-up team (under the leadership of Patty Denney) were 10-time nominees and twice winners of the Daytime Emmy. Ralph loved his profession and the people with whom he worked. He retired from membership in 2012. Ralph's family was very proud of his achievements and used his Emmys as centerpieces at his family's reunions. He is survived by his oldest sister Virginia and his four nieces and two nephews. Services were held February 11 at the Anaheim Cemetery. We got a makeover. RCMAmakeup.com The Professionals Makeup

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