Attorney, Civic Leader Ralph Ford Dies at 70
Huntsville attorney and community leader Ralph Hunter Ford died today at his home at the age of 70 after a lengthy illness.
Ford, of 209 Marsheutz Ave. SE, was a partner in the firm of Ford, Caldwell, Ford and Payne, was the longtime Madison County attorney, and represented numerous Huntsville and Madison County agencies in his law practice.
The funeral will be Saturday at 2 p.m. at First United Methodist Church with the Rev. Jerry Sisson officiating. Burial will be in Maple Hill Cemetery with Laughlin Service Funeral Home directing. Visitation will be at the funeral home Friday from 6 to 8 p.m.
Ford served as president of the Huntsville-Madison County Mental Health Board at its inception, from 1968-70, and then as a board member from 1969-1975. He is considered to have been instrumental to the completion of the present Mental Health Center.
His portrait hangs in the Ralph H. Ford Board Room at the center, honoring his service to mental health.
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Ford was the attorney for the Madison County Commission for 10 years, from 1967-77, for the Huntsville Hospital Authority for more than 20 years and for the county school board for 22 years.
Huntsville Hospital Administrator Ed Boston said the Huntsville Hospital family is "extremely saddened" at Ford's death.
"He has been legal counsel for the hospital for more than 20 years," Boston said. "During this time of tremendous change in the health care industry he guided the Huntsville Hospital Authority through several different reorganizations. These resulted in new legal structure which allowed the hospital to better serve the needs of the community."
Retired County Commissioner Woodrow Balch said today that Ford was a close friend and that he "did a marvelous job for the County Commission as county attorney. You could always depend on what he told you when you asked for his opinion. He knew what he was doing."
"He was respected by the commission and by everyone," Balch said. "He was a great public servant for the people of Madison County."
County Superintendent of Education Dr. Richard Chapman noted that Ford worked closely with the county school board in the late 1980s and early 1990s in eliminating a dual school system. "He was very much involved with the board in establishing a unitary school system and getting zone lines between the schools established and approved by the federal courts," Chapman said.
FORD ALSO served as president of the Huntsville Rotary Club, the Acme Club, the Huntsville-Madison County Chamber of Commerce and the Huntsville-Madison County Bar Association.
Ford received his bachelor's degree from the University of Alabama in 1939 and his law degree from the UA Law School in1941. While at Alabama, he was a cheerleader, a member of Pi Kappa Alpha social fraternity and Omicron Delta Kappa honorary society and the "A" Club.
As an attorney, Ford was a fellow in the American College of Trial Lawyers; a fellow in the International Academy of Trial Lawyers and s member of the Supreme Court Advisory Committee on Appellate Practice from 1974-88.
Ford is survived by his wife, Celeste Scoggin Ford; three sons, John B. Ford of Oak Ridge, Tenn., Robert H. Ford of Huntsville, and Greg Jackson of South Carolina; one daughter, Susan Ford Echols of Huntsville; his mother, Mrs. Ruth S. Ford of Huntsville; two brothers, Earle R. Ford of Huntsville and Frank H. Ford of Largo, Fla.; one sister, Mrs. Laura F. Baxter of Huntsville; and nine grandchildren.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to the Department of Oncology and Radiation at Huntsville Hospital.
Originally published in The Huntsville Times on Thursday, October 16, 1986 Huntsville, Alabama Page: B-1 Column: 1
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Huntsville attorney and community leader Ralph Hunter Ford died today at his home at the age of 70 after a lengthy illness.
Ford, of 209 Marsheutz Ave. SE, was a partner in the firm of Ford, Caldwell, Ford and Payne, was the longtime Madison County attorney, and represented numerous Huntsville and Madison County agencies in his law practice.
The funeral will be Saturday at 2 p.m. at First United Methodist Church with the Rev. Jerry Sisson officiating. Burial will be in Maple Hill Cemetery with Laughlin Service Funeral Home directing. Visitation will be at the funeral home Friday from 6 to 8 p.m.
Ford served as president of the Huntsville-Madison County Mental Health Board at its inception, from 1968-70, and then as a board member from 1969-1975. He is considered to have been instrumental to the completion of the present Mental Health Center.
His portrait hangs in the Ralph H. Ford Board Room at the center, honoring his service to mental health.
Turn to Page A·2, Column 1
Continued from Page A-1
Ford was the attorney for the Madison County Commission for 10 years, from 1967-77, for the Huntsville Hospital Authority for more than 20 years and for the county school board for 22 years.
Huntsville Hospital Administrator Ed Boston said the Huntsville Hospital family is "extremely saddened" at Ford's death.
"He has been legal counsel for the hospital for more than 20 years," Boston said. "During this time of tremendous change in the health care industry he guided the Huntsville Hospital Authority through several different reorganizations. These resulted in new legal structure which allowed the hospital to better serve the needs of the community."
Retired County Commissioner Woodrow Balch said today that Ford was a close friend and that he "did a marvelous job for the County Commission as county attorney. You could always depend on what he told you when you asked for his opinion. He knew what he was doing."
"He was respected by the commission and by everyone," Balch said. "He was a great public servant for the people of Madison County."
County Superintendent of Education Dr. Richard Chapman noted that Ford worked closely with the county school board in the late 1980s and early 1990s in eliminating a dual school system. "He was very much involved with the board in establishing a unitary school system and getting zone lines between the schools established and approved by the federal courts," Chapman said.
FORD ALSO served as president of the Huntsville Rotary Club, the Acme Club, the Huntsville-Madison County Chamber of Commerce and the Huntsville-Madison County Bar Association.
Ford received his bachelor's degree from the University of Alabama in 1939 and his law degree from the UA Law School in1941. While at Alabama, he was a cheerleader, a member of Pi Kappa Alpha social fraternity and Omicron Delta Kappa honorary society and the "A" Club.
As an attorney, Ford was a fellow in the American College of Trial Lawyers; a fellow in the International Academy of Trial Lawyers and s member of the Supreme Court Advisory Committee on Appellate Practice from 1974-88.
Ford is survived by his wife, Celeste Scoggin Ford; three sons, John B. Ford of Oak Ridge, Tenn., Robert H. Ford of Huntsville, and Greg Jackson of South Carolina; one daughter, Susan Ford Echols of Huntsville; his mother, Mrs. Ruth S. Ford of Huntsville; two brothers, Earle R. Ford of Huntsville and Frank H. Ford of Largo, Fla.; one sister, Mrs. Laura F. Baxter of Huntsville; and nine grandchildren.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to the Department of Oncology and Radiation at Huntsville Hospital.
Originally published in The Huntsville Times on Thursday, October 16, 1986 Huntsville, Alabama Page: B-1 Column: 1
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Attorney, Civic Leader Ralph Ford Dies at 70
Huntsville attorney and community leader Ralph Hunter Ford died today at his home at the age of 70 after a lengthy illness.
Ford, of 209 Marsheutz Ave. SE, was a partner in the firm of Ford, Caldwell, Ford and Payne, was the longtime Madison County attorney, and represented numerous Huntsville and Madison County agencies in his law practice.
The funeral will be Saturday at 2 p.m. at First United Methodist Church with the Rev. Jerry Sisson officiating. Burial will be in Maple Hill Cemetery with Laughlin Service Funeral Home directing. Visitation will be at the funeral home Friday from 6 to 8 p.m.
Ford served as president of the Huntsville-Madison County Mental Health Board at its inception, from 1968-70, and then as a board member from 1969-1975. He is considered to have been instrumental to the completion of the present Mental Health Center.
His portrait hangs in the Ralph H. Ford Board Room at the center, honoring his service to mental health.
Turn to Page A·2, Column 1
Continued from Page A-1
Ford was the attorney for the Madison County Commission for 10 years, from 1967-77, for the Huntsville Hospital Authority for more than 20 years and for the county school board for 22 years.
Huntsville Hospital Administrator Ed Boston said the Huntsville Hospital family is "extremely saddened" at Ford's death.
"He has been legal counsel for the hospital for more than 20 years," Boston said. "During this time of tremendous change in the health care industry he guided the Huntsville Hospital Authority through several different reorganizations. These resulted in new legal structure which allowed the hospital to better serve the needs of the community."
Retired County Commissioner Woodrow Balch said today that Ford was a close friend and that he "did a marvelous job for the County Commission as county attorney. You could always depend on what he told you when you asked for his opinion. He knew what he was doing."
"He was respected by the commission and by everyone," Balch said. "He was a great public servant for the people of Madison County."
County Superintendent of Education Dr. Richard Chapman noted that Ford worked closely with the county school board in the late 1980s and early 1990s in eliminating a dual school system. "He was very much involved with the board in establishing a unitary school system and getting zone lines between the schools established and approved by the federal courts," Chapman said.
FORD ALSO served as president of the Huntsville Rotary Club, the Acme Club, the Huntsville-Madison County Chamber of Commerce and the Huntsville-Madison County Bar Association.
Ford received his bachelor's degree from the University of Alabama in 1939 and his law degree from the UA Law School in1941. While at Alabama, he was a cheerleader, a member of Pi Kappa Alpha social fraternity and Omicron Delta Kappa honorary society and the "A" Club.
As an attorney, Ford was a fellow in the American College of Trial Lawyers; a fellow in the International Academy of Trial Lawyers and s member of the Supreme Court Advisory Committee on Appellate Practice from 1974-88.
Ford is survived by his wife, Celeste Scoggin Ford; three sons, John B. Ford of Oak Ridge, Tenn., Robert H. Ford of Huntsville, and Greg Jackson of South Carolina; one daughter, Susan Ford Echols of Huntsville; his mother, Mrs. Ruth S. Ford of Huntsville; two brothers, Earle R. Ford of Huntsville and Frank H. Ford of Largo, Fla.; one sister, Mrs. Laura F. Baxter of Huntsville; and nine grandchildren.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to the Department of Oncology and Radiation at Huntsville Hospital.
Originally published in The Huntsville Times on Thursday, October 16, 1986 Huntsville, Alabama Page: B-1 Column: 1
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Huntsville attorney and community leader Ralph Hunter Ford died today at his home at the age of 70 after a lengthy illness.
Ford, of 209 Marsheutz Ave. SE, was a partner in the firm of Ford, Caldwell, Ford and Payne, was the longtime Madison County attorney, and represented numerous Huntsville and Madison County agencies in his law practice.
The funeral will be Saturday at 2 p.m. at First United Methodist Church with the Rev. Jerry Sisson officiating. Burial will be in Maple Hill Cemetery with Laughlin Service Funeral Home directing. Visitation will be at the funeral home Friday from 6 to 8 p.m.
Ford served as president of the Huntsville-Madison County Mental Health Board at its inception, from 1968-70, and then as a board member from 1969-1975. He is considered to have been instrumental to the completion of the present Mental Health Center.
His portrait hangs in the Ralph H. Ford Board Room at the center, honoring his service to mental health.
Turn to Page A·2, Column 1
Continued from Page A-1
Ford was the attorney for the Madison County Commission for 10 years, from 1967-77, for the Huntsville Hospital Authority for more than 20 years and for the county school board for 22 years.
Huntsville Hospital Administrator Ed Boston said the Huntsville Hospital family is "extremely saddened" at Ford's death.
"He has been legal counsel for the hospital for more than 20 years," Boston said. "During this time of tremendous change in the health care industry he guided the Huntsville Hospital Authority through several different reorganizations. These resulted in new legal structure which allowed the hospital to better serve the needs of the community."
Retired County Commissioner Woodrow Balch said today that Ford was a close friend and that he "did a marvelous job for the County Commission as county attorney. You could always depend on what he told you when you asked for his opinion. He knew what he was doing."
"He was respected by the commission and by everyone," Balch said. "He was a great public servant for the people of Madison County."
County Superintendent of Education Dr. Richard Chapman noted that Ford worked closely with the county school board in the late 1980s and early 1990s in eliminating a dual school system. "He was very much involved with the board in establishing a unitary school system and getting zone lines between the schools established and approved by the federal courts," Chapman said.
FORD ALSO served as president of the Huntsville Rotary Club, the Acme Club, the Huntsville-Madison County Chamber of Commerce and the Huntsville-Madison County Bar Association.
Ford received his bachelor's degree from the University of Alabama in 1939 and his law degree from the UA Law School in1941. While at Alabama, he was a cheerleader, a member of Pi Kappa Alpha social fraternity and Omicron Delta Kappa honorary society and the "A" Club.
As an attorney, Ford was a fellow in the American College of Trial Lawyers; a fellow in the International Academy of Trial Lawyers and s member of the Supreme Court Advisory Committee on Appellate Practice from 1974-88.
Ford is survived by his wife, Celeste Scoggin Ford; three sons, John B. Ford of Oak Ridge, Tenn., Robert H. Ford of Huntsville, and Greg Jackson of South Carolina; one daughter, Susan Ford Echols of Huntsville; his mother, Mrs. Ruth S. Ford of Huntsville; two brothers, Earle R. Ford of Huntsville and Frank H. Ford of Largo, Fla.; one sister, Mrs. Laura F. Baxter of Huntsville; and nine grandchildren.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to the Department of Oncology and Radiation at Huntsville Hospital.
Originally published in The Huntsville Times on Thursday, October 16, 1986 Huntsville, Alabama Page: B-1 Column: 1
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