Ralph Splittberger

Ralph Splittberger, 94, passed away peacefully on Aug. 16, 2021. Ralph was born on July 13, 1927, in Hudson, N.Y., to Clarence and Emily Splittberger. He graduated from Philmont High in 1944 and in 1948 earned a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, N.Y. In July of that year, he was hired by Pratt & Whitney in Hartford, Conn.

In the next 13 years he made life-long friends, some of whom were hack musicians who formed a small band as an advocation and in which Ralph played several instruments. He also met his wife-to-be during this time and married Beverly Field in July of 1951. In 1961, Ralph was transferred to the Florida branch of Pratt & Whitey and moved his family of five to North Palm Beach, Fla.

Included in his Florida years was a one-year family move to Lancaster, Calif., from where Ralph would be flown to spend his work week at Area 51. Here he worked on the team that developed and made adjustments according to test pilots’ comments on the J58 engine which was used for the SR-71 Blackbird.

It was during this time that Ralph “fell in love” with the desert and so in 1969 he took a job with AiResearch and moved to Paradise Valley, Ariz. In 1973, Ralph bought Action Chemical Pool Company, which he owned and operated for the next 15 years before retiring. He then became an active volunteer in multi-faceted interests.

Ralph was an avid hiker and hiked into the Grand Canyon over 50 times and to the top of Mt. Whitney twice. He kept records of each hike, amassing 4,340 miles from January 1970 through December 2010. He also was very involved with the Boy Scouts, being the Scoutmaster for Troop 40 and prior to that being the Hikemaster for Troop 441 (the largest troop in Arizona at the time). In 1981, Ralph received the Silver Beaver Award for his service to the Boy Scouts.

Wherever Ralph lived, he had a workshop of sorts and he loved to work with wood. He often brought home a fallen branch of some desert tree, sliced off various angles of its wood, smoothed it to perfection and polished it off to become the center piece of a bolo tie, which he wore or gave away. He had no regular ties in his wardrobe. His interests also included collecting guns acquired when he received gifts of these handed down to him by both grandfathers. He truly never hunted but made numerous trips to Ben Avery Shooting Range. Ralph’s gun collection exceeded 50, ranging from Colt handguns from the 1920s to black powder rifles that he assembled himself from a kit. He also coached Little League baseball and had many players on his teams that later played at Chaparral High School.

Ralph was a family man and always an active church member wherever he lived. In 1980, he and his wife became Charter members of Mountain View Presbyterian Church. He served as both a Deacon and an Elder; was co-chair for the building addition of the Activities Center to the church grounds; made a church group/mission trip to Kenya; and sang in the Mt. View church choir for over 26 years. This choir, led by Kay Randolph, was invited and sang in separate years at St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome, Notre Dame in Paris, Carnegie Hall in NYC, and New York Philharmonic in NYC. In his later years, Ralph was also an associate member of Fountain Hills Presbyterian Church.

Ralph was married to Beverly Field from 1951 to 1997 when Beverly passed away with Huntington’s Disease. In the Millennium year, Ralph married Helen Orr following the three Sunday services for which they had just sung, they joined the Reverend Ralph Meredith at the altar while the choir remained in the loft. The congregants had already been invited to stay for the ceremony if they wished. After the “I do” from each, they were pronounced man and wife and the choir concluded the ceremony with the benediction. The couple made their home in Scottsdale for the next 15 years.

Besides conquering Mt. Whitney several times as well as his awesome record of the many times hiked in the Grand Canyon, he was more than familiar with the various trails of the Superstitions, Scottsdale Park System, Sedona, Page, Payson, Sonoita and Tucson areas. In addition, Ralph hiked Alaska trails, entering the state by car one time and from a cruise ship another. While visiting the Big Island of Hawaii, Ralph was able to hike a bit around their quite active volcano as well as on the cliffs above the black sands and rock coastline. He had the pleasure of accepting an invitation to also hike the Cotswold Hills in England.

Ralph’s innate curiosity led to several destination cruises, all of which included inland hiking tours of ports visited. His “sea hiking” began with the Norwegian Sea Fiords up as far North and across the Arctic Circle to the Land of the Midnight Sun. Another year, he sailed across the North Sea into the Baltic Sea for land tours of Denmark, Berlin, Estonia, Russia, Finland and Sweden. Another sea was the Mediterranean Sea that included the Aegean Sea between Greece and Turkey and refreshed Bible story memories. The last sea explored was the Tasman Sea in the South Pacific, where he did more sightseeing of Australia and New Zealand than hiking. He toured the famous Sydney Opera House and wished he were there with the entire Mt. View choir to sing.

During January of 2016, the couple moved to an assisted living/memory care facility in Fountain Hills chosen for its beautiful view of the Four Peaks and Superstition Mountains and where the last five-and-a-half years of Ralph’s life were spent.

Ralph is survived by his wife, Helen Orr; children, Andrea Rosen (Robert), Gary (Mary Garrow) and Dale (LaDonna); stepchildren, Alicia Renkema, Linda Gibney (Bill) and Pamela Pliska (Bernie); nine grandchildren and four great-grandchildren. He is preceded in death by his first wife, Beverly and his brother, Don.

Services will be on Saturday, Nov. 6, at 1 p.m. at Mountain View Presbyterian Church, 8350 E. Mountain View Road in Scottsdale. Reception following.

In lieu of flowers, please consider making a donation to Boy Scouts of America (grandcanyonbsa.org), Mountain View Presbyterian Church (mtviewpres.org) or Huntington’s Disease Society of America (hdsa.org).