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Thursday, July 2, 2009

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Joseph R. Ratcliffe

EMILY - Joseph Robert Ratcliffe, age 90, of Emily, died on June 30, 2009, at the Cuyuna Regional Care Center in Crosby. He was born on Aug. 10, 1918, in Lamar, Colo., to Robert and Iva Lee (Slater) Ratcliffe.

Joe graduated from the Belleville Kansas High School in 1936. He graduated from Miltonvale Wesleyan College in Kansas in 1940. He married Dorothy Hite on Feb. 20, 1942. Joe served in U.S. Marines during WWII in the Pacific theater. When he returned he pursued a teaching career, receiving a bachelor of arts degree from Marion College, Indiana in 1950 and a master of arts degree from Ball State College, Indiana in 1964. He taught at the Remer High School for 25 years, teaching history, social studies and English. He was a member of the Emily Wesleyan Church. He taught Sunday school for many years. In 1991 he was elected to the Tri-County Community Action Program and served on the Emily Planning and Zoning Committee.

Joseph Ratcliffe

He is survived by three daughters, Virginia (Ken) Brannan, of Emily, Ruth (Bill) Heeren Habein, of Pequot Lakes, and Patricia (Don) Grotjohn, of Schaller, Iowa; three grandchildren, Tim Heeren, Beth Olmstead and Suzy Brannan; seven great-grandchildren, Andrae, Chandra, Silas, Abby, Megan, Joshua and Andrew Joseph; many nieces, nephews and friends.

He is preceded in death by his parents; wife, Dorothy in 1988; granddaughter, Gayle Lydeen; one brother, Ivan Ratcliffe; and two sisters, Rachel McMurphy and Pearl Washburn.

Funeral services will be 2 p.m. Friday at the Wesleyan Church in Emily. Burial will be at the Pine Ridge Cemetery in Emily with full military honors given by the Myrin-James American Legion Post, Ironton. Friends may call one hour prior to the services at the church on Friday. Arrangements are with the Koop Funeral Home in Crosby.

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