Ralph P Broring

Ralph P. Broring, 92 of La Crescent, Minn., passed away on Thursday, February 9, 2017 at Bethany St. Joseph Care Center in La Crosse due to complications from a fall in his home. He was born in La Crosse on November 10, 1924 to Paul and Johanna (Johnson) Broring.    Ralph graduated from La Crosse Central HS, then in 1944, after two years at the La Crosse Teachers College,  he joined the Navy..  He married Joan Eloda “Lobie” Graf of La Crosse, WI April in 1945 in NYC while he was stationed in Brooklyn.  Within a few years he switched to the Marine Corps and has been Semper Fi until the end. He retired from the Marine Corps after serving 26 years, capped off by a stint in the Pentagon as an attaché to NATO. He was stationed  in many states, including Hawaii, and in Okinawa and Vietnam. After retiring from the military, he worked briefly in Virginia and then moved back to La Crescent, working nearly 30 years for Ray Hutson Chevrolet as a salesman and eventually as fleet and lease manager. Ralph was highly reliable and organized in whatever he did. He had a passion for dog racing and casinos, and was known as a lucky guy. He played golf into his upper 80s, often rode his bike on the Root river trail in the summers. Even with the physical struggles of the last years he continued to take great joy in near weekly trips to Marquette, Black River Falls, or other casinos, as well as weekly Bingo nights at the La Crescent Legion. His joie-de-vivre was apparent even after the recent fall when he was still planning how to get to Bingo.

Ralph is survived by his two daughters Kathleen Boardman of La Crescent, Gail (Ried) Boom of Manchester IA., five grandchildren; Rob (Lisa) La Crosse, Rian (Jeanette) of Eureka, CA., Alex (Mackenzie) of Des Moines, IA., Hannah of New Zeland, Ian of Cedar Rapids, IA., five great-grandchildren and two great-great grandchildren. In addition to his wife Lobie, he was preceded in death by one son Tommy and one sister Betty Waldo.

Memorial services will be held at 11am on Saturday, March 4, 2017 at the Schumacher-Kish Funeral and Cremation Services La Crescent chapel; 111 South Oak St. Rev. Robert J. Cook will officiate. Burial with military rites by the Gittens-Leidel American Legion Post 595 will be in the Catholic Cemetery, La Crescent. Friends may call on the family Saturday morning at the funeral home from 9am until the time of services. In lieu of flowers, memorials are preferred and will be donated in Ralph’s memory.