David John Ralff, 91 of Hilton Head SC, passed away on November 19, 2023. He was born in Kingston, NY on Sept 29th 1932 to Charles and Frances Ralff. He was the youngest of their four children.
Dave is survived by his wife of 63 years, Patricia, and sister Marian of Orlando, FL. He was pre-deceased by his brother William and sister Jeanne. He is also survived by his four children and their families; son Ken and his wife Terri and their children Marie and James, daughter Kristin and husband Paul, daughter Jennifer and her husband Philip and their children Rachel and Philip, and son Steve and his wife Alexa and their children Wyatt and Avery.
Dave graduated from Kingston High School and then attended The Citadel in South Carolina. After a 2 year tour of duty in the Army, Dave attended Wharton Business School where he earned his MBA degree. Dave moved to NYC where he met his wife and embarked on a successful career as an institutional salesman for such legendary Wall Street firms as Mitchell Hutchinson, G.A. Saxton, before moving to Boston with First Boston and EF Hutton.
Dave was known as the company test taker and earned his CFA. After a brief early retirement Dave returned as a consultant for the growing Boston Stock Exchange.
Dave was a passionate golfer, a hobby he shared with his wife. He would often torture his family with a shot by shot accounting of his weekend rounds, including the shots of each of the other members of the foursome. Good times. Additionally, Dave was a meticulous keeper of the yard, loved a good fire and cocktail and walking with one of his several dogs and granddogs. Dave was a voracious reader his entire life, predominately US History. Dave had a wicked sense of humor and was known to break out a surprisingly good poem at select family events.
A family service will be held in the Cypress Hall at The Cypress in Hilton Head on Saturday, December 2nd at 2 pm.