Ralph Ruesch Hafen

Ralph Ruesch Hafen joined the Celestial Choir on May 29, 2012.
He was born September 21, 1916 in Mt. Pleasant, Utah to William and Matilda Ruesch Hafen. His family was comprised of seven children - three girls and four boys. Ralph was next to the youngest. When he was 3 1/2 years old, his father died after a short illness with a high fever and pneumonia. He always told his children how much he loved his mother and what a great lady she was. His oldest brother, Jay, was on a mission at the time of his father's death and had to come home to help the family on the farm. Jay was like a father to Ralph. He went through the school system in Mt. Pleasant, graduated from high school and attended college at BYU for about six months.
He grew up on the farm and did everything he could to help his widowed mother. He learned how to milk cows, ride horses, load hay onto a hay wagon with a pitchfork and other farm chores. He has fond memories of his family life. The boys in the family loved to tease. When he was raising his family, whenever a child sat by him at the dinner table they knew they were going to be poked with a fork, their knees squeezed or whatever Ralph could do to make them squirm. Ralph has always teased and continued to do so while in the VA Nursing home.
Ralph's family was very musical. They had beautiful voices. Ralph played in a dance band for many years playing the saxophone, clarinet and sang to earn a little extra money, $1.00 per night. He had a beautiful tenor singing voice and sang at many funerals, weddings, church meetings, and even put on his own concerts. Music was a great part of his life and it was a wonderful comfort to him to be able to sing. A number of years ago he used his singing machine to record his songs. His family still enjoys listening to them.
As a young man Ralph got a job at the Safeway Store in Mt. Pleasant which was the beginning of his career. Later, he was transferred to the Richfield store. One day while at work he looked out of the window and saw a cute young lady skipping across the street with her friend. He made the effort to find out who she was and they started to date. This young lady, Iris Buchanan from Venice, Utah, became his wife. Ralph has said Iris saved his life because she helped him make proper choices and remain active in the Church. They were married in the Manti Temple and celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary two months before she died of cancer. This union was blessed with five children (two boys and three girls); Keith, Carol, Nancy, Jane and Steven. His youngest son, Steven, died at age 50 in 2006 from cancer. They have been blessed with 24 grandchildren and 52 great grandchildren.
At the beginning of World War II, Ralph joined the service with his brother in law, Dwain Buchanan, hoping they would be assigned to the same unit. Unfortunately Dwain went into the Navy and never left the U.S. and Ralph went into the Army. After training in California, Ralph was shipped to the Pacific front. He left behind his wife and infant son, Keith, who was three months old. Ralph served three years in the Army and spent most of his time in the South Pacific in Guam, New Guinea and the Philippines. He was a radio operator and was on the front line to observe where the enemy was. His job was to radio back their position which helped his unit direct their artillery fire. One of his favorite pictures from the war shows him pointing to a scar on the top of his head. He told his children that a bullet had grazed his skull. Being the tease that he was, it wasn't until years later that he told them what had really happened. He had been injured when the vehicle he was riding in was in an accident. He never talked much about the war but did talk about how hard it was to see his friends die. Ralph was a manager for Safeway Stores, a grocery chain. He was very friendly and enjoyed greeting his customers. He continued his teasing ways. When a friend would come in the store he would chat with them and when they were not looking he would put items in their basket. Often good church members would get to the checkout stand with coffee and other unwanted items in their basket. He loved talking with his customers and if they told him about some wonderful remedy, he would go home and try it. This included such things as tiger's milk (milk and Tabasco sauce) and a concoction of orange juice and Brewer=s yeast. This may be the reason he lived to be almost 96 years old, without a wrinkle on his face.
Ralph and his wife Iris had some great experiences together. They served an LDS Church mission in Dallas, Texas shortly after Ralph retired from Safeway where he had been a manager for 36 years. They were temple workers in the St. George Temple for many years. They were called to the St. George Temple Presidency where they served from June 1986 to June 1989. He was set apart as first counselor by President Thomas S. Monson. After being released from the temple presidency, Ralph continued serving as a sealer. He officiated at the temple marriage for all of his grandchildren except for the last five when his declining health prevented him from doing so. Ralph and Iris went on some wonderful trips together one of which was to the Holy Land. They so enjoyed doing these things together. Iris died very young at age 72 in January 1991 from cancer.
After Iris's death Ralph was very lonely. A mutual friend introduced him to Marie Mosteller. They were married in April 1992 in the St. George Temple. This increased the family by Marie's five children (three girls and two boys): Shauna, Barry, Erick, Brenda, Tonya and added another ten grandchildren to the family. Ralph and Marie loved to serve in the Temple. Her love for the Temple complimented his love for the Temple. Marie is an excellent cook and always made sure Ralph had good healthy meals. His life was prolonged because of the loving care Marie gave him. Ralph was even able to work for one of his competitors in the grocery business until he was 88 years old. This helped him stay young and healthy. He has always been proud of how young he looked and how healthy he was.
He especially enjoyed singing with the Master Singers, a male chorus in St. George, and was often a soloist. Ralph and Marie lived in St. George until it became necessary for Ralph to live at the Utah VA Nursing Home in Salt Lake City, where Marie visited him as often as she could. He received excellent and loving care from the VA staff. During the three and a half years at the nursing home, even in his declining health, Ralph was a friendly, teasing, kind, gracious and loving person. His strong testimony of the Gospel of Jesus Christ was felt by all those who cared for him. He will be greatly missed by all.
Ralph was preceded in death by his wife, Iris Buchanan Hafen (1991) and his son Steven Roy Hafen (2006). He is survived by his wife, Marie Mosteller Hafen, his children Keith (Barbara) Hafen, Carol (Michael) Broadbent, Nancy (Keith) Grimshaw, Jane (Chris) Church, daughter-in-law Diane Hafen, and Marie's children Shauna (Gerald) Bybee, Erick (Karen) Mosteller, Erick (Karen) Mosteller, Brenda Melchoir, and Tonya (Andy) Farabee.
Funeral services will be held in Mt. Pleasant, Utah on Saturday, June 2nd, at the LDS Chapel, located at 49 South State Street, at 1:00 pm. A viewing will be held before the service beginning at 11:30 am. Interment will be in the Mt. Pleasant Cemetery. A Memorial Service will be held on Saturday, June 16th, at 1:00 pm in the LDS East Stake Center, 449 South 300 East, St. George, Utah.