Ralph Norman Harkness ’40

Born on his grandfather’s farm in Winona, Ontario, Ralph attended lycée in Paris and prepared at Woodberry Forest School. At Princeton, he majored in English and French and graduated with high honors and election to Phi Beta Kappa. He was a member of the swim team, Whig-Clio, and Tower Club.

During World War II, Ralph was a captain with the 12th Armored Division in Germany and France. His career was with Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance in Milwaukee, Wis., from which he retired in 1982 as a vice president. Later, working as a development officer at Alverno College in Milwaukee, he established the Barbara Frost Harkness Memorial Scholarship, named for his first wife.

A longtime vestryman at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, Ralph also served on the boards of Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design, Children’s Outing Association, United Performing Arts Center, and the Better Business Bureau. He co-founded Prevent Blindness of Wisconsin.

Preceded in death by Barbara, he is survived by his second wife, Melita (Lane); four children, Ainslie, Thomas, Daniel, and Scott; Melita’s children; and six grandchildren. To them all, the class offers sincere sympathy.