Ralph E. Greenfield, 93 of Tioga, ND, formally of Lignite, ND passed away June 17, 2018 at his home in Tioga. He was born to Garold and Inez (Zepp) Greenfield on March 15th, 1925 in Foothills Township, Burke County, ND. He was the fifth child of nine children in the family. He married Alvina (Souther) Volberg on April 2nd, 1952 whom he was married to for 61 years.
Ralph was a farmer and rancher. He also had different jobs to supplement the income for his family. He worked odd jobs around the area before becoming a school bus driver from 1967 to 1987. He was also a Contract Rural Route mail carrier from 1980 to 2003. He lived on the family farm until January 2014 when he moved to Tioga, ND.
Ralph entered the Army at induction center Fort Snelling, MN on November 30th, 1950; attended basic training at Fort Riley, Kansas from December 1950 to March 1951. On April 5, 1951 he was shipped to Korea with the Wolfhound Division and returned to Camp Atterbury, Indiana in April 1952. September 1, 1952 he was discharged and was is the Army Reserve until April 26th, 1959.
He had a love for horses (especially Pintos) and was always proud of the ones he owned and the nice saddles that he had for them. His favorite horse was Pet. Ralph taught all his children how to ride and taught numerous nieces and nephews. In the 1950’s he fed his cattle with a team of horses pulling the bales on a stone boat or sleigh.
Ralph was a member of the American Legion for many years. He and Alvina belonged to a square dance club for many years…they loved to dance.
He loved to play tricks on people, his favorite was a book that when opened would give the person a small shock. He liked this because he could open it and not feel the shock. He also liked to hear jokes and was always ready to tell someone a joke. He had a lot of them through the years.
Ralph was a loving husband, father, grandfather, brother, and uncle.
Ralph is survived by his daughters Larena (Gordon) Lokken, Peggy (Ronald) Monette, his sons Randy(Kathy) Greenfield, Michael (Vicki) Greenfield, Allan Greenfield and daughter-in-law Diane Skjervem, 21 grandchildren, 32 great grandchildren, 8 great- great grandchildren, sister Dorothy Souther, and numerous nieces, nephews, and cousins.
Ralph was preceded in death by his parents, wife Alvina, son Jerome Volberg, grandson Monte Olson, granddaughter Jeri Monette, sisters Ellen Greenfield, Garoldine VanBerkom, Geneva Skalicky and brothers Wallace, Kenneth, William, and Wilford Greenfield. He was also preceded by son-in-law’s Orrin Olson and Leon McGinnity.