Ralph Rawles Wheeler passed away peacefully in his home in Palo Alto, California, on March 20, 2023. He was 88 years old.

Ralph was born on May 17, 1934, in El Paso, Texas. His family moved to Indianapolis, Indiana, and then to La Junta, Colorado, when Ralph was still a young boy. His earliest memory is riding in a car along the cliff-sides of the Million Dollar Highway in Colorado—an excursion that terrified him.

Ralph was named after his father, who along with his mother, Opal Lamn Wheeler, owned a local newspaper called the La Junta Democrat until 1947. At six years old, Ralph took up a paper route to help out with the family business. Around this time, Ralph and his older brother, John Tipton Wheeler II, started listening to opera on the radio, instilling a lifelong love of music.

Ralph came to cherish the outdoors and the American West as a member of the Scouts, and he became an Eagle Scout in 1950. When he was a teenager, Ralph joined the Koshares, a group of Scouts that visited Native American tribes to learn traditional songs, dances, crafts, and costume making. The Koshares provided an opportunity for Ralph to travel as a young man to places such as Santa Fe, Yellowstone, and Chicago, where his troop performed. He described the experience as one of the best things to happen to him growing up, along with developing a love for mathematics thanks to his math and science teacher, Mr. Flanders.

In 1952, Ralph enrolled at the University of Colorado as an engineering major, and two years later he transferred to the University of Denver. He initially thought he wanted to be a veterinarian, and he lived and worked on a farm before moving into the city, where he enjoyed going downtown to see the movies. He graduated with a degree in mathematics in 1956. Though Ralph's education prepared him for a career in engineering, he was also passionate about studying the arts—and in 1957, he moved to New York City to see as many plays, musicals, and operas as he could get standing room tickets for, a time that he would cherish for the rest of his life.

Later that year, Ralph returned to Denver, but the job that he had lined up fell through. So he bought a copy of Aviation Week and began writing to companies with ads in the magazine to express an interest in working with computers, which were new at the time. The head of a simulation facility at Lockheed in California called Ralph, but he didn't have the budget to bring him out for an interview—so Ralph threw his belongings in his 1955 Chevy Bel Air and went to California himself, driving all night and taking a nap in his car at a gas station. He showed up asking for an interview, and he got the job as an associate engineer.

In October 1957, the Soviet Union launched the Sputnik satellite, and Ralph took an interest in space. He worked 84 hours a week for three months on a classified simulation program at Lockheed, and he used his overtime wages to buy a Triumph T3 sports car. He went on to fulfill many roles at Lockheed, working long shifts for missile launches, developing spaceflight simulations, and designing capsules to return photos on film from space. Ralph also attended graduate courses at Stanford University from 1960 to 1961, and he learned to ski, joining a ski group that went to a cabin in Palisades Tahoe each year.

After moving to a new apartment complex, Ralph and a friend were hosting a party by the pool, serving their guests chili relleno, when his future wife Jackie Amis moved in. Ralph and Jackie became friends and fell in love, and later Jackie joined Ralph on a trip to the ski cabin. During a hike, Jackie slipped and slid partway down the scree on the side of the mountain, frightening Ralph. That night, in January 1963, with no prior intention of doing so, he proposed.

In April, he moved into a house in Greenmeadow on Nelson Court in Palo Alto, California. Ralph and Jackie married on May 18, 1963, in Carmel.

The next year, Ralph moved to Nassau Bay, Texas, to set up a simulator for the Apollo missions to the moon. He and Jackie had their first child, Megan in 1965. After about a year and a half at the NASA Manned Spacecraft Center in Houston, where he managed the simulation group and wrote programs for the Lunar Excursion Module simulator that the astronauts trained on, Ralph and his family moved back to their home in Palo Alto.

In 1966, Ralph and Jackie had their second daughter, Casey.  A son, J.T. was born in 1968.

Around this time, Ralph returned to Lockheed and became the chief engineer of a hybrid analog-digital computer, the largest ever built, and he got involved in the Joint Computer Conferences. Ralph was named the head of the 1971 Fall Joint Computer Conference, the largest conference of its kind at the time. He later became chairman of the National Computer Conference Board in 1976. As his children grew up, he and Jackie took them on trips to places like Taos, Yosemite, Death Valley, Hawaii, and Disneyland. Ralph hiked across the Grand Canyon, completing the Rim to Rim to Rim with J.T. and his Boy Scout troop.

Ralph and his family were active members of the Greenmeadow community for 60 years. Ralph served on the board, managing buildings and grounds. He supervised the remodel of the nursery school office. He volunteered at swim meets and he attended every 4 th of July parade. Greenmeadow events such as the Memorial and Labor Day picnics were very important to him. He and Jackie along with Don and Holly Gautier also hosted an annual court party every autumnal equinox where they welcomed many new members and celebrated the "old-timers" while they built community in the neighborhood.

When AYSO came to Palo Alto, Ralph got involved to support the community as he often did. He coached his children's teams and donated his time to organize field scheduling.

After his children went to college, Ralph developed a love of race walking. He became an active member in the Golden Gate Race Walkers club and organized many of the Palo Alto races sponsored by the club. He competed in various events, including the marathon, at the World Veterans' Athletics Championships in Finland, Japan, South Africa and Spain. He and Jackie continued to be active in local and national politics, advocating for the election of progressive and diverse leaders as well as mentoring young candidates. Through his activism, Ralph became a founding member the Dean Democratic Club of Silicon Valley.

Ralph will always be remembered by his family and friends for his love of travelling and learning about the world. He organized biannual vacations with his children and grandchildren to some of the most beautiful parts of the country, a tradition that became known as Cuz. He will also be remembered for his willingness to stand up for his beliefs and a strong resolve tinged with the joys of mischief.

His is survived by his wife Jackie, brother John, two daughters Megan (Joe) and Casey, son J.T. (Stacy), and eight grandchildren. In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to World Central Kitchen .