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Colleagues recall quiet, caring FLORIDA TODAY editor who valued community

Britt Kennerly
Florida Today
Longtime FLORIDA TODAY journalist Ralph Bates, pictured in 1996 as a member of the paper's editorial board, died Aug. 8 at age 78.

Two stories about veteran journalist Ralph Bates tell me pretty much all I need to know about his character.

The first: The longtime FLORIDA TODAY journalist took care of his wife, Doris, as she faced cancer, until her death in  2014.

The other: He once buried an opossum he'd watched stumble into his yard and die. In exquisite detail, Ralph penned a beautiful 2006 piece for FLORIDA TODAY about how the suffering animal's actions affected him. How it looked at him as it lay dying, thrusting its left front paw into the air three times, "as if to push away the pain."

Though our paths crossed a few times almost 15 years ago, I didn't know Ralph, who died Aug. 8 at age 78 in Melbourne after battling COPD, Parkinson's and dementia.

But from stories shared by his colleagues and the story of an opossum's last moments, I know this: Ralph knew what mattered.

Born Sept. 28, 1939, in Shinnston, West Virginia, he was in the Air Force when he was assigned to Patrick Air Force Base as a public affairs officer for the Eastern Test Range. According to a story about him when he retired from FLORIDA TODAY in 2007, Ralph managed the press sites during early Mercury and Gemini flights, escorting CBS's Walter Cronkite and ABC's science editor Jules Bergman.

He worked for the Orlando Sentinel as a reporter, and then for former state Sen. Beth Johnson of Cocoa Beach, after leaving the Air Force in 1965. Ralph then wrote for The Times in Melbourne as city editor and later, managing editor.

When Gannett bought the Times in the '60s and started the TODAY newspaper, Ralph remained with the new paper until he retired. His roles at FLORIDA TODAY ranged from assistant editorial page editor to copy editor for custom publications.

"A meticulous journalist, Ralph mentored numerous reporters over the years and helped them hone their craft," said former colleague Maggie Erickson-Stiff. 

"He was a quiet, gentle man, a devoted husband to an ailing wife and a true Southern gentleman."

One of those reporters was Alice Garwood, who worked with Ralph at the Times when she was just out of college and later, at FLORIDA TODAY.

"Ralph was always willing to answer my questions and share his knowledge of the area as I learned the ropes," Garwood said. "He was a man of few words, but he occasionally would surprise me with a keen insight or humorous comment."

Other former co-workers remember a good man with a fine eye for detail — and who loved reading, fishing and football.

“Ralph was a very dedicated journalist, a real pro who triple-checked everything," said John Glisch.

"He had a deep knowledge of local issues and always had time to talk to readers on the phone and respectfully listen to their thoughts on a topic.”

Bill Sargent called Ralph a "skilled and dedicated writer and editor who could handle any story in either capacity, who devoted his life to newspapering."

"On most days you could set your watch by Ralph’s work schedule. He walked in the door at 8 a.m. with briefcase in hand, and walked out at 5 p.m.," Sargent said. 

"We would joke with Ralph about how he spent his vacations. He’d always reply, 'I painted my house.' And, he was serious."

Ralph "went about his life looking out for others and Brevard," wrote Terry Eberle, former FLORIDA TODAY executive editor, when Ralph retired.

"You never heard a gripe from him," Eberle said. "He focused on one thing — his readers."

I don't doubt it. Beth Reid, Ralph's stepdaughter, confirmed how much Ralph treasured his years as a journalist.

This is a man, after all, who described the death of an opossum as watching  "one of life's most significant events unfolded before me."

"Something extraordinary happened that Sunday afternoon," Ralph wrote. "I keep trying to grasp the significance of it. I can't. I can't even get past the how and why of it. Somehow, it was important to that wild creature to do it this way."

Yes, Ralph was a man who wanted to share what he saw and what he learned, from the everyday occurrences that dot our life paths to complex crises that threaten to derail us along the way.

A man who'd treat others, from his wife, colleagues and readers to a struggling animal, with kindness and respect.

A man who knew that whatever that opossum was trying to tell him about life and death, it mattered — and that someone ought to tell such stories.

Contact Kennerly at 321-242-3692 or bkennerly@floridatoday.com. Follow her on Twitter @bybrittkennerly or at Facebook.com/bybrittkennerly.

Remembering Ralph Bates

A visitation for Ralph Bates is from 2 to 4 p.m. Aug. 22 at Life Event Center at Florida Memorial, 5950 South U.S. 1, Rockledge.