The Life of Tim Ralston
Timothy Clyde Ralston died on December 5th, 2010 in Bismarck, North Dakota.
Tim was born in 1948, the son of Verne and Jill Ralston. The oldest of four children, he grew up on a farm north of Petersburg, North Dakota. He graduated from Unity High School in 1966 and then attended Mayville State College, where he graduated with a B.S. in Social Science and a minor in business education in 1970. He enlisted in the Air Force in 1970 and then served as an English Language Instructor in South Vietnam. He received the Air Force Commendation Medal for excellence in teaching and in 1974 received an honorable discharge.
From 1974- 1979 Tim lived and worked in the Pacific Northwest, where he received a B.A. in Business Administration, and a B.A. in Economics, from Eastern Washington University, Cheney, WA. He majored in marketing, accounting, management, and economics. It was during this period that he initially wrote the bulk of "Nuclear Soldier".
Tim then moved back to North Dakota, where he worked as a Field Inspector with the North Dakota State Tax Department. In 1983 he began working for Grinnell Mutual Reinsurance Company as the Marketing Representative for Northwest Minnesota, North Dakota, and Western South Dakota.
Tim met and wed Mary Kay Keller of Dickinson in 1985. They welcomed their daughter, Mariah, in 1986.
Mary Kay taught Spanish in the Bismarck Public Schools and Tim was Mr. Mom, as well as working a variety of marketing jobs, and writing poetry on the side.
Tim was a proponent of critical thinking and creative expression. Where there was groupthink in North Dakota, he was not. He was a loving son, husband, and father, storyteller, world traveler, former mountain climber, and smokejumper. He fiercely loved his family and friends, Thermopolis WY, the Black Hills, Nash Township, Nelson County, the Pacific Northwest and the Missouri River.
He was by faith a Zen Lutheran, and by profession, a poet. His poetry was unpublished at the time of his death.
In 2015 his wife (Mary Kay) and his daughter (Mariah) formed a partnership for the purpose of publishing his work in a collection. In 2016 Tributaries was published by the Buffalo Commons Tavern LLP and printed at the now defunct Ivy Arts Copy and Print in Minneapolis, MN. To purchase a copy of Tributaries, please visit our shop.
Thank you for visiting and learning about Tim Ralston's work.
Tim was born in 1948, the son of Verne and Jill Ralston. The oldest of four children, he grew up on a farm north of Petersburg, North Dakota. He graduated from Unity High School in 1966 and then attended Mayville State College, where he graduated with a B.S. in Social Science and a minor in business education in 1970. He enlisted in the Air Force in 1970 and then served as an English Language Instructor in South Vietnam. He received the Air Force Commendation Medal for excellence in teaching and in 1974 received an honorable discharge.
From 1974- 1979 Tim lived and worked in the Pacific Northwest, where he received a B.A. in Business Administration, and a B.A. in Economics, from Eastern Washington University, Cheney, WA. He majored in marketing, accounting, management, and economics. It was during this period that he initially wrote the bulk of "Nuclear Soldier".
Tim then moved back to North Dakota, where he worked as a Field Inspector with the North Dakota State Tax Department. In 1983 he began working for Grinnell Mutual Reinsurance Company as the Marketing Representative for Northwest Minnesota, North Dakota, and Western South Dakota.
Tim met and wed Mary Kay Keller of Dickinson in 1985. They welcomed their daughter, Mariah, in 1986.
Mary Kay taught Spanish in the Bismarck Public Schools and Tim was Mr. Mom, as well as working a variety of marketing jobs, and writing poetry on the side.
Tim was a proponent of critical thinking and creative expression. Where there was groupthink in North Dakota, he was not. He was a loving son, husband, and father, storyteller, world traveler, former mountain climber, and smokejumper. He fiercely loved his family and friends, Thermopolis WY, the Black Hills, Nash Township, Nelson County, the Pacific Northwest and the Missouri River.
He was by faith a Zen Lutheran, and by profession, a poet. His poetry was unpublished at the time of his death.
In 2015 his wife (Mary Kay) and his daughter (Mariah) formed a partnership for the purpose of publishing his work in a collection. In 2016 Tributaries was published by the Buffalo Commons Tavern LLP and printed at the now defunct Ivy Arts Copy and Print in Minneapolis, MN. To purchase a copy of Tributaries, please visit our shop.
Thank you for visiting and learning about Tim Ralston's work.