RALPH H. BAXTER

Ralph Baxter

Ralph H. Baxter, 86, of Mountain Home, Ark., formerly of Rushville and Macomb, died at 12:15 p.m. March 30, 2014, in Fayetteville, Ark., after an extended illness.

He was born Sept. 1, 1927, in Oakland Township, Schuyler County, a son of Herman C. and Mary L. Sargent Baxter. He married Phyllis Gayle Ridings on March 30, 1951, in Rushville. She survives.

Also surviving are three sons, Steven (and Rhea) Baxter of Imperial, Mo., Robert (and Marilyn) Baxter of Tennessee, Ill., and David (and Cindy) Baxter of Macomb; two daughters, Joyce (and Tom) Bernhard of Columbia City, Ind., and Sara (and Gerald) Thompson of Fayetteville, Ark.; one brother, Dwight (and Eloise) Baxter of Jacksonville; 13 grandchildren; and 12 great-grandchildren.

He was preceded in death by one granddaughter, Erin Bernhard; one sister, Louise McClelland; and one brother, Donald Baxter.

After being raised on the family farm, he graduated from Rushville High School in 1946.

After serving in the U.S. Army during the Korean War, he returned home to farm in the Rushville and later Macomb area.

In 1981, they moved to Mountain Home, Ark., where he worked in the Mountain Home School District for 15 years until retiring in 1993.

Services were held Friday at Worthington Funeral Home in Rushville with Rev. Dixie Croxton officiating. Burial was in Rushville City Cemetery with Military Honors by a U.S. Army Honors Detail and Schuyler Post #4 American Legion.

Memorials may be made to Houston United Methodist Church or Hospice of the Ozarks in Mountain Home, Ark.

Condolences may be sent to www.worthingtonfh.com.

Published in the Astoria South Fulton Argus on 4/9/2014