Ralston, Emma Jean

RALSTON, Emma Jean

RALSTON, Emma Jean, age 88, of Dayton and formerly of Springboro, passed away Friday, September 22, 2023, at Kettering Medical Center.

Emma, who went by Jean, graduated from Bethesda Nursing School in Cincinnati. She retired after more than 35 years of service as a registered nurse for Kettering Medical Center. She was a loyal member of the Ridgeville Christian Church and, more recently, the New Freedom Church. She volunteered countless hours at both churches and loved spreading the Gospel. She was also a long-standing member with her husband, Billy, of the Springboro Grange.

Smart, loving, and caring, Jean had a happy personality and served others. She greatly enjoyed sewing and needlepointwork, especially when making quilts for her grandchildren. She also enjoyed playing bingo and word puzzles, flower gardening, feeding the hummingbirds each summer, and listening to the Cincinnati Reds baseball games from her back patio. Rather surprisingly, she knew many details about current and previous players. Family vacations were joyful times for her. Some of her favorite destinations with her family included a Disney cruise and visiting Disney World. An especially exciting vacation was a trip to Hawaii, which was a lifelong dream of hers. She also enjoyed scrapbooking and genealogy research for the family. She created scrapbooks for each family member and for each vacation experience. Being a farm girl, she collected ceramic chickens and old-fashioned irons. She was always proud of the care she provided to others during her nursing career and well-respected for it, but her sons and her grandchildren were what Jean was most proud of in her life. She will be greatly missed.

She was preceded in death by her parents, Horace and Laura Morgan; grandson, Matthew Ralston; one brother, Wilburn Morgan; and brother-in-law, Willie Stanfield. She is survived by her loving husband of 65 years, Billy Gene; two sons, Michael (Susan) Ralston and David (Teri) Ralston; seven grandchildren, Hannah, Catherine, Andrew, Sarah, Olivia, Owen, and Laura Ralston; sister, Patsy Stanfield; and many close friends.

Funeral services will be held at 11 AM on Thursday, September 28, at Stubbs-Conner Funeral Home in Waynesville. Burial will be in Miami Valley Memorial Gardens in Centerville. The family will receive friends from 6 – 8 PM on Wednesday, September 27, at the funeral home. If desired, contributions may be made to the New Freedom Church and the Love Packages organization. Condolences at www.stubbsconner.com.

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