Ralph A. Tate, 89, of Midland, TX and formerly of El Paso, TX passed away on Sunday, June 13, 2004, in a local care facility. A graveside service will be held Saturday, June 19, 2004 at 10 am at Restlawn Memorial Park, 8700 Dyer St., El Paso, TX with Pastor Bobby Patterson, officiating. A viewing will be held Friday, June 18, 2004 from 3:00 to 6:00 pm at Hillcrest Funeral Home, 1060 Carolina Dr. in El Paso, TX. Ralph Alva Tate was born January 26, 1915, near Toledo in Cumberland Co, Illinois, to Erma Ruby Pennington and Thomas Allen Tate. Ralph was the youngest of four children, with an older brother Carl, and two sisters Hazel and Hollis. His mother died when he was one year old and he lived with aunts during his younger years, attending Bradbury and Janesville Grade Schools. His high school at Decatur High was interrupted by the depression and he left after his tenth year. Ralph married Beatrice Jane Burkhead on April 4, 1936, and had three daughters, Peggy Aline, Retha Jean, and Patty Jo. She preceded him in death on April 27, 1999. Supporting his family, he worked at the railroad and ran the Burkhead farm, until joining a pipeline crew in 1946. A forty year career in gas and oil pipelines took him throughout the midwest and southwest United States, as well as South America, Saudia Arabia, Canada, Yemen, Iraq and Iran where he met the Shaw of Iran. Many areas of the desert southwest still bear the trail where he dug trench for the oil and gas lines. Survivors include: three daughters, Peggy Attwood of Midland, TX, Retha Wilcoxson of San Antonio, TX, Patty Jo York and husband Russell W. of Omaha, NE; ten grandchildren; Jacque Starr Frost, Crystal Frost-Pedregon and husband Eduardo, Weston Gray Frost, Carrie Dawn Wilcoxson, Glen Austin Wilcoxson, Annette Attwood-Lange, Ralph C. Attwood, Cassandra Jo York, Colleen Lynn York, Corrie Ann York-Dobler and husband Joshua, great granchildren: Salina Frost-Becerra and husband John, and Alec Brian Rosas, and one great-great grandaughter, Kara Becerra. He was preceded in death by his parents, his wife, two sisters, one brother, and one great-grandson, Levi Edward Pedregon.Ralph will be missed as his kind and soft spoken ways have enriched the lives of all his family and those who knew him,
