Ralph Rollins Pruett passed away on August 16, 2011 to be with his Lord. Ralph was born on March 17, 1925 in Concord, New Hampshire to Ralph Adelbert Pruett and Amy Gladys Rollins. He and his sister Amy grew up in Pennsylvania. He became an Eagle Scout in 1938. He strongly believed in the importance of serving your country. He attended the United States Merchant Marine Academy in Kings Point and graduated in 1944. He became one of the youngest commissioned officers in the Navy during World War II. During the war he received the U.S. Navy Commendation Medal for leading a landing party that saved three U.S. officers who were trapped by Japanese soldiers. Ralph led the landing party and threw a grenade that wiped out the Japanese machine gun nest. After the war he joined the Coast Guard. One Sunday (December 20, 1953) while reading the newspaper when his ship was stationed in Seattle, he saw a photograph of a beautiful young nurse with a pediatric patient on the cover of the magazine insert. He fell in love immediately. He phoned his mother and said he had found the girl he wanted to marry. Of course he hadn't actually met her yet. Amazingly he managed to get someone at the hospital to give him her name and phone number. Her name was Marceline Yvonne Franck. She was a bit shy and quite proper. He arrived at her apartment in his best suit. She was wearing blue jeans. Marcie and her roommate, Irene, had decided that if Ralph seemed safe Irene would stay in the living room while they drank tea. She did so Marcie went up and changed clothes and they were off on their first date. They were married eight months later. Their first two children, David Rollins Pruett and Kathleen Marie Pruett Doody were born in Seattle, Washington. The next tour of duty was in Cleveland, Ohio. James Brian Pruett was born there in 1959. Many moves later, Ralph and his family was assigned to duty in Agana, Guam during the Vietnam War. His fourth child, Amy Jo Pruett McMahon was born there in 1967. Ralph's final tour of duty was in Boston, Massachusetts as the Commander of the USS Bibb, a weather ship for the North Atlantic. He retired from the Coast Guard on July 1, 1971 after twenty-seven years of active duty. He had served faithfully and proudly for all those years. Following his retirement from the Coast Guard, he became a Hull Surveyor for Lykes Brothers Steamship Company. In 1973 he joined U.S. Salvage Association as a marine surveyor. The family relocated to Houston, Texas. In 1976 he had the opportunity to move "home" to Seattle, Washington. He remained with U.S. Salvage Association until it stopped doing business on December 19, 1986. Ralph was well known and respected in the maritime industry so he worked as an independent surveyor in 1987. In 1988 he joined Hull and Cargo until he retired in 1995. Ralph was in great demand because of his reputation for honesty and thoroughness. During the last several years of his career he traveled all over the world doing surveys.

Ralph was an active volunteer for Boy Scouts during his adult life. He and Marcie traveled to an orphanage in Romania several times which gave them great joy. They participated in programs locally to help feed the homeless. Ralph was an active member in his church, St. Andrews Lutheran Church, in Bellevue, Washington. He and Marcie loved to travel and made numerous trips to Europe, Alaska and Asia.

Most importantly, Ralph was a wonderful father, loving husband and faithful friend. He never met anyone he didn't like and he had the gift for seeing the best in everyone. He was an inspiration to his family and will be greatly missed. He is survived by his wife of 57 years, Marceline Franck Pruett and his four children David Rollins Pruett, Kathleen Marie Pruett Doody, James Brian Pruett and Amy Jo Pruett McMahon. Additionally he was blessed with eight grandchildren Katie Doody, Kelsey Pruett, Matthew Pruett, Ian Pruett, Kevin Patrick Doody, Riley McMahon, Lucy McMahon and Elly McMahon.

His memorial service will be held at Saint Andrews Lutheran Church in Bellevue, Washington on September 10th at 2 pm. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations to the Alzheimer's Association.