Ralph Dover, son of Daniel Webster Dover and Arminta Belle Clem, was born in 1900 in a dugout house that was his home until his father built a frame house on their homestead in 1905. Ralph's sister, Leota Myrle, had been born in 1898 in Perry, Oklahoma. Ralph and Leota's mother, Arminta, left their father in 1909, taking Leota with her but leaving Ralph. Arminta and Daniel divorced in 1910. Ralph continued to live with his father until 1914, when he decided while visiting his mother and her second husband, Gail E. Wing, to stay with them. On February 17, 1916, both Ralph and Leota were adopted by their new father and changed their name to Wing.
Ralph learned from Gail, who was a hardworking jack-of-all-trades, how to do all kinds of things, from storekeeping to machinery repair to farming. For a number of years Ralph operated a service station in downtown Camargo. On his own time, he taught himself to play the fiddle, so well he was often hired to play for dances in the Camargo area. In 1922, on December 22, Ralph married Esther Marie Blair, daughter of Ival Melville Blair and Grace Emma Herring. During their long and happy marriage they bore and raised four children: Ival DeWayne, Gerald Stanley, Leah Marie, and Carl Edwin; and helped care for, and love, several younger siblings (including Clarence Blair and Ellsworth and Junior Franklin Dover). From the early 1940s they lived in a spacious bungalow house across the street from the Camargo Christian Church. Ralph and Esther are fondly remembered by children, grandchildren, great grandchildren and beyond, plus uncounted nieces and nephews over the generations.
Sometimes Ralph would tell me tales
About the wild Canadian's flow,
Quicksands that swallowed herds and crews
Who tried to cross on the cattle trails,
Raging floods that could cartwheel a tree
And knock out the bridge on the MKT.
He could show me prairie dog towns
Or lone coyotes loping down draws,
Drove his truck for miles on rutted roads
Just to talk about redtails perched on poles
Or walk an old hunting camp high on a mound
Where broken arrowheads littered the ground.
I believe in his ninety years Ralph became
One with these hills he loved so well,
One with the soil, the white gypsum, red clay,
One with the rocks, immutable,
One with the river, wide and grand,
One with the beautiful, boundless land.
Ralph learned from Gail, who was a hardworking jack-of-all-trades, how to do all kinds of things, from storekeeping to machinery repair to farming. For a number of years Ralph operated a service station in downtown Camargo. On his own time, he taught himself to play the fiddle, so well he was often hired to play for dances in the Camargo area. In 1922, on December 22, Ralph married Esther Marie Blair, daughter of Ival Melville Blair and Grace Emma Herring. During their long and happy marriage they bore and raised four children: Ival DeWayne, Gerald Stanley, Leah Marie, and Carl Edwin; and helped care for, and love, several younger siblings (including Clarence Blair and Ellsworth and Junior Franklin Dover). From the early 1940s they lived in a spacious bungalow house across the street from the Camargo Christian Church. Ralph and Esther are fondly remembered by children, grandchildren, great grandchildren and beyond, plus uncounted nieces and nephews over the generations.
Sometimes Ralph would tell me tales
About the wild Canadian's flow,
Quicksands that swallowed herds and crews
Who tried to cross on the cattle trails,
Raging floods that could cartwheel a tree
And knock out the bridge on the MKT.
He could show me prairie dog towns
Or lone coyotes loping down draws,
Drove his truck for miles on rutted roads
Just to talk about redtails perched on poles
Or walk an old hunting camp high on a mound
Where broken arrowheads littered the ground.
I believe in his ninety years Ralph became
One with these hills he loved so well,
One with the soil, the white gypsum, red clay,
One with the rocks, immutable,
One with the river, wide and grand,
One with the beautiful, boundless land.
Ralph Dover, son of Daniel Webster Dover and Arminta Belle Clem, was born in 1900 in a dugout house that was his home until his father built a frame house on their homestead in 1905. Ralph's sister, Leota Myrle, had been born in 1898 in Perry, Oklahoma. Ralph and Leota's mother, Arminta, left their father in 1909, taking Leota with her but leaving Ralph. Arminta and Daniel divorced in 1910. Ralph continued to live with his father until 1914, when he decided while visiting his mother and her second husband, Gail E. Wing, to stay with them. On February 17, 1916, both Ralph and Leota were adopted by their new father and changed their name to Wing.
Ralph learned from Gail, who was a hardworking jack-of-all-trades, how to do all kinds of things, from storekeeping to machinery repair to farming. For a number of years Ralph operated a service station in downtown Camargo. On his own time, he taught himself to play the fiddle, so well he was often hired to play for dances in the Camargo area. In 1922, on December 22, Ralph married Esther Marie Blair, daughter of Ival Melville Blair and Grace Emma Herring. During their long and happy marriage they bore and raised four children: Ival DeWayne, Gerald Stanley, Leah Marie, and Carl Edwin; and helped care for, and love, several younger siblings (including Clarence Blair and Ellsworth and Junior Franklin Dover). From the early 1940s they lived in a spacious bungalow house across the street from the Camargo Christian Church. Ralph and Esther are fondly remembered by children, grandchildren, great grandchildren and beyond, plus uncounted nieces and nephews over the generations.
Sometimes Ralph would tell me tales
About the wild Canadian's flow,
Quicksands that swallowed herds and crews
Who tried to cross on the cattle trails,
Raging floods that could cartwheel a tree
And knock out the bridge on the MKT.
He could show me prairie dog towns
Or lone coyotes loping down draws,
Drove his truck for miles on rutted roads
Just to talk about redtails perched on poles
Or walk an old hunting camp high on a mound
Where broken arrowheads littered the ground.
I believe in his ninety years Ralph became
One with these hills he loved so well,
One with the soil, the white gypsum, red clay,
One with the rocks, immutable,
One with the river, wide and grand,
One with the beautiful, boundless land.
Ralph learned from Gail, who was a hardworking jack-of-all-trades, how to do all kinds of things, from storekeeping to machinery repair to farming. For a number of years Ralph operated a service station in downtown Camargo. On his own time, he taught himself to play the fiddle, so well he was often hired to play for dances in the Camargo area. In 1922, on December 22, Ralph married Esther Marie Blair, daughter of Ival Melville Blair and Grace Emma Herring. During their long and happy marriage they bore and raised four children: Ival DeWayne, Gerald Stanley, Leah Marie, and Carl Edwin; and helped care for, and love, several younger siblings (including Clarence Blair and Ellsworth and Junior Franklin Dover). From the early 1940s they lived in a spacious bungalow house across the street from the Camargo Christian Church. Ralph and Esther are fondly remembered by children, grandchildren, great grandchildren and beyond, plus uncounted nieces and nephews over the generations.
Sometimes Ralph would tell me tales
About the wild Canadian's flow,
Quicksands that swallowed herds and crews
Who tried to cross on the cattle trails,
Raging floods that could cartwheel a tree
And knock out the bridge on the MKT.
He could show me prairie dog towns
Or lone coyotes loping down draws,
Drove his truck for miles on rutted roads
Just to talk about redtails perched on poles
Or walk an old hunting camp high on a mound
Where broken arrowheads littered the ground.
I believe in his ninety years Ralph became
One with these hills he loved so well,
One with the soil, the white gypsum, red clay,
One with the rocks, immutable,
One with the river, wide and grand,
One with the beautiful, boundless land.
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