Ralph Vail

RALPH E. VAIL (June 1, 1926 – August 28, 2017) Ralph Vail, born in Forest Grove, Oregon was the son of Ralph Vail, Sr. and Mabel Vail. He married Margaret Rose in August 1947. Ralph and Margaret have four children. Scott G. Vail of Mora, Carrie Vail Tienken of Fresno, CA, Shelley Vail Kaiser of Angel Fire and Robert A. Vail of Santa Fe. Ralph and Margaret have four grandchildren and 13 great-grandchildren. As a young man, Ralph followed in his father’s footsteps as a logger in the Pacific Northwest. He served during WWII as a Naval Aviation Cadet. After graduating with a Bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering from Washington State University he worked for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. He then worked as a Sr. Engineer with a national engineering firm and was responsible for the design and supervision of complex construction projects in Alaska, Florida, Washington and New Mexico. Ralph was a resident of Santa Fe since 1959 and started his own engineering firm in the mid 1960’s. His company served numerous municipalities throughout the state and he was a principal consultant for the molybdenum mine in Questa. He owned and operated the Sunlit Hills Community Water system for many years. Ralph attended St. John’s United Methodist Church where he served as a youth group volunteer. Ralph took great pleasure in hiking and camping in the Santa Fe Mountains with his family. The family will honor Ralph with a private memorial.