Ralph Austin Bard Jr. ’33

Ralph Bard died Dec. 10, 1996. He came to college from Highland Park, Ill., and Berkshire Academy. He was a member of Tiger Inn.

His business career began in low gear when he went to California to help operate farms on which a bank had foreclosed. He transferred to San Francisco, where he met and married Nonie, his wife of some 60 years. He then managed a division for Edwards Associates, a large farming enterprise owned by the Hal Edwards family.

After a two-year stop in West Virginia to manage a tile and brick plant, Ralph returned to Chicago and began a career as an investor. It was interrupted by a tour of duty in the Marine Corps. He enlisted as a private (his father, Ralph A. Bard '06, was assistant secretary of the Navy). He was commissioned in OCS and served in air combat intelligence.

Ralph was an active participant in a wide range of civic and cultural activities, serving on the board of the Shedd Aquarium, the RushPresbyterian St. Luke's Hospital, and the Chicago Horticultural Society. The Gateway at the Chicago Botanical Garden was named for him.

To Nonie, to daughters Katharine Dickinson and Mary Bourquin, to son Ralph, and to nephew Tim Johnson '73, we extend our sympathy and express our admiration for Ralph's remarkable career.

The Class of 1933