Ralph H. Held, Jr.

Ralph H. Held, Jr., 88, of Newark Valley, NY passed away on Nov. 21, 2021. Born in Plainfield, NJ, Ralph was the son of Evelyn and Ralph Held, Sr. and grandson of Annett Lake. He is survived by his loving and devoted wife of 60 years, Shirley (Carter) Held and the many friends and neighbors he has met along the path of life. Upon his High School graduation, the family moved to Elk Lake, PA. Following his service in the US Army during the Korean Conflict, he attended Tri-State University in Angola, IN receiving his degree in Mechanical Engineering. For a short time he was employed at Alcoa Products in Schenectady, NY, until beginning his long-time career at IBM in Owego where he served as a manager of the Lamps Program Configuration. Following retirement, he also served as a consultant for the Navy. Ralph loved many different sports including golf and snowmobiling but most of all, stock car racing. In fact, he was the proud owner of # 93 and ran local tracks for many years. He also loved to travel and camp. Over the course of 24 years, Ralph and Shirley enjoy many memorable times at their place in Cape Vincent, NY on the St. Lawrence River. Feeding and watching the birds at home as well as his three special dogs, Sheba, Vallie and Ginger also gave him great pleasure. For the past two years, due to physical frailties, Ralph has resided at the NYS Veterans Home in Oxford, NY. Both Ralph and Shirley express their thanks and gratitude to the entire staff there for the kind and loving care he received, and also to the doctors and nurses at Lourdes ER and ICU. For those wishing to honor Ralph with a memorial contribution, kindly consider NYS Veterans Home, in Oxford, the Broome County Animal Shelter or a charity of Choice. A Memorial Service will be held at the MacPherson Funeral Home, Newark Valley at a later date to be announced. Memories and condolences may be written in Ralphs guestbook at macphersonfh.com .