Ralph O’Neal West of Wellesley, MA. beloved husband for sixty-four years of Mary (Mimi) A. West, died July 15, 2010 of congestive heart failure. Mr. West was an educator, historian, avid outdoorsman and above all devoted to family. He was a World War II veteran serving in the European theater. He was born in Natick, MA. July 6, 1924.
He attended Vermont Academy, was a member of the class of 1946 at Harvard College and received his Masters Degree in Education from the Harvard School of Education. Mr. West taught at Vermont Academy and then went on to become head of the history department and Assistant Director of Admissions at St. John’s School in Houston, Texas, Headmaster of Cushing Academy in Ashburnham, MA, Executive Secretary of Harvard’s Gradate School of Education, an administrator at the National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS), and then Director of Evaluation for the for the Commission on Independent Secondary Schools for the New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC). Ralph West retired in 1989, after 23 years of service to the NEASC and 42 years in independent school education. In retirement, he established an educational consulting firm, Ralph O. West and Associates. and was a member of the Executive Service Corp of New England.
Beyond his professional life, Mr. West enjoyed hiking in the mountains of New England and the West and canoeing the lakes and rivers of New England. He spent many happy summers with extended family in Warner and New London, NH. Mr. West was deeply involved in the affairs of St. Andrews Episcopal Church of Wellesley serving as vestryman and usher for many years. He also served briefly there as Director of Christian Education. Mr. West volunteered as an alumni interviewer for undergraduate admissions for Harvard College, as a trustee of Vermont Academy and The Rivers Country Day School, Weston, MA. He was a long time member of the Appalachian Mountain Club serving on the Three-Mile Island Committee and the Youth Opportunities Committee. His past affiliations have also included; the Spee Club of Harvard University, Harvard Faculty Club, the Men of Caliber, the Benton St. Philosophical Society of Wellesley , The Katahdin Medical and Philosophical Society of Philadelphia.
He is survived by his wife, four daughters and their families; Susan W. Ayres of Wayne, PA, Dorothy (Kippy) K. West North, Woodbury, CT, Martha (Marcy) W. Lyman, Manchester, NH, Katherine (Kaatje) W. White, Williamstown, Ma, six grandsons and six granddaughters. He is also survived by a sister, Johanna West Norton of Port Angeles, WA, and numerous nieces and nephews.
Funeral service will be held on Thursday, July 22 at 2 PM, St. Andrews Episcopal Church, 79 Denton Rd., Wellesley, MA. In lieu of flowers, memorial gifts may be made to; The New Hampshire Charitable Foundation (memo; Mother West Memorial Donor Advised Fund), NHCF 37 Pleasant St., Concord, NH 03301, St. Andrews Episcopal Church at the above address, or to the Robert R. and Margaret S. West Memorial Library Fund, Vermont Academy, Saxtons River, VT 05154-4500