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ABOUT
THE MAN

Ralph was born on January 5th, 1937. He was the youngest son of Anna and Amos Timpson. With 5 other kids Ralph was quite a handful. He and his older brother Harold, took their dad's car with Harold steering and Ralph working the foot peddles and ran it off the side of the road. His family really had some grand adventures with him.

As a teenager Ralph was hanging out with his friend Wayne and he met Wayne's little sister. He thought she was quite cute. Fast forward through many fun times and he married that cute girl on April 17th, 1955.

Thelma and Ralph raised 4 daughters, Marietta, Barbara, Terry, and Susie along with a niece, Debbie. Ralph and Thelma worked hard through the years to provide beautiful experiences for their girls. Then when the next generation started they showered their 8 grandchildren April, Cresi, Randi, Justin, Mason, Sarah, Taylor, and Josh with love , the best hugs and smiles. 

Those wonderful experiences were extended to the kids and grandkids, friends and families. Each were valued by all who were close to Thelma and Ralph. 

Unfortunately, Thelma lost her life on December 20th, 2001. For 46 years Ralph was married to Thelma, but for his lifetime he loved her. Ralph was devastated, thanks to the efforts of loved family and friends. Ralph moved forward. Besides the efforts of his girls and granddaughter April (his running buddy) he had help from his much loved son-in-law Chris, and various close friends like Willard, Emmet, Bryant, Bubba, Roger, Gail and her crew, along with his sweet cousins, nephews and nieces.

Ralph was able to enjoy life again. He has happily celebrated Susie marrying David and 3 of his grandchildren finding and marring their soulmates. He had the birth of his first great grandchild, Vance, in March of 2013. He was a very proud Great Gompa and called him "My little man". Ralph's s family continued to expand gaining 6 step great grandsons and a step great granddaughter. 2 years ago Ralph and Virginia were overjoyed at the arrival of his darling great granddaughter Emalee .

Ralph decided to share his joys with Virginia. On March 23, 2013 he married Virginia. They enjoyed sharing laughs, stories of life's adventures, and the beauty of family. Many smiles and celebrations were shared by the extended family for over 7 years. Virginia and many other loved ones worked hard to take care of Ralph though is 9 month battle with cancer. Ralph's village of loved ones came together to crush pills, sit with him, ran him to various appointments,  along with many other efforts outside the house.

~

On April 18th, 2020 Ralph lost his battle with cancer. He was blessed to have just had his daughter Barbara visiting and for his passing his sweet wife, Virginia, daughters, Terry and Susie, Susie's husband David, and family of choice, Bubba with him, and his granddaughter, April on the phone as he left this physical world. 

~

He has been loved by many and

he chose to care for many.

For this, we celebrate and honor him. 

~

Ralph Darrow Timpson's ashes will be laid to rest next to his wife Thelma

at Grove Hill Cemetery on

Friday May 22nd, 2020

at 10:30 am.

His is dearly missed by his wife Virginia, his daughters, grandchildren, great grandchildren, nieces, nephews, cousins, and valued friends.

THE MAGIC

This crafty mechanic was out numbered by all those girls.  That did not slow him and Thelma down; they worked hard to enable them to have many grand adventures. Ralph and Thelma had merry times with their families. Both were close with their mothers, siblings, and their siblings' families, which was a wonderful way to raise their children and it trickled down to many of their future generations.

Fun was has had though many wonderful vacations to fun places like Silver Dollar City (the streets were not lined with silver dollars to Barbara's disappointment), going to Florida to see Ralph's beloved mom, sisters, nephews and nieces,  along with many adventures to Colorado which carried on with their best friends, Thelma's sister Sue and her husband Fred, and eventually included the next generation with taking April (the oldest of 8 grandchildren).

Thelma and Ralph bought a lake house at Lake Tawakoni in the 1970's five houses down from Sue and Fred. This made for a great escape and fun to be had through the  generations. They had 8 grandchildren who enjoyed various special times with their grandparents. Ralph and Thelma gave their children and grandchildren the great gifts of life skills and happy times, whether it was fishing  at the lake, riding motorcycles, having a blast on the boat, RVing to Oklahoma, Arkansas, to various NASCAR races or old school road-trips to Florida, Colorado, or Utah. A great island escape to Hawaii was a dream for Susie and Barbara. A fantastic getaway to Lake Tahoe was enjoyed by Terry and Susie with their mom and dad. Beautiful beach moments were had when visiting Barbara and her kids on the Texas coast. And simple, precious one-on-one fun was had when on the weekends he would wake up which ever "kid" was there to go run errands, hit up junk sales, and explore the pawn shops followed by a delicious lunch, at El Fenix or Keller's.

No matter where they lived, in the Dallas area, at the lake, Sulpher Springs, or Terrell, all were welcomed. Family celebrations were never small because there were many who were valued as family of heart. Any strays (pups and human alike) were fed; laughs, drinks, and hugs were had. 

Those wonderful experiences were valued by all who were close to  Ralph. 

Virginia sweetly embraced all who came with Ralph as he did with her. Family celebrations were quite a hoot. He had a blast running down the road with Virginia stopping at various garage sales, pawn shops, and any quirky place with treasures. 

THE MACHINES

Ralph Timpson was the mind behind the workings of many mighty machines over the years. He was building cars before he could see over the steering wheel. His first car was pieced together from scraps gathered and the seat was a create on top of blocks.  It was the first of a life long love of cars, their workings, and their capabilities.

As a young man he supported his family by working as a mechanic for a dealership. He even survived '50 something Ford falling on him after the jack gave out. He made it out with only a few broken bones. 

He honed his skills and opened up C&R Garage in Downtown Dallas with his business partner, Clint. He "retired" from C&R in 2002, but still could be found there several days a week. Ralph loved his work and enjoyed helping anyone who needed it.

When his brother, Harold, wanted to start a  business Ralph helped and became a partner in Timpson Machine Works for a few years . 

Ralph's efforts to help others extended to him building shops at the lake, Sulpher Springs, and Terrell houses. He had cars brought to him from all over the United States. His magic of mechanics came to him unlike any other. If he had a problem to solve most often he could go to sleep and usually by the next morning the problem would have been worked though. 

Ralph's love of cars flowed over to his pass time to a love of NASCAR. His daughter Terry provided Gompa and our family with tickets to many of the NASCAR races at Texas Motor Speedway. He and his granddaughter ventured to Talladega where fun was had with the various of friends who gathered their yearly. For his last adventure to Talladega he and Terry were joined by April one of her best friends. Ralph was passionate about his choice drivers. It made for many great family gatherings.

He enjoyed junking, going to car, RV, and boat auctions. His buddy Charlie Martin shared in this passion and learned from Ralph as a mentor and family friend. Some auctions were attended for purchasing and some were gone to enjoy the art of the machines and other deals that could be found. In 2013 Ralph and Virginia started their grand adventures by attending the Barrett-Jackson Auctions in Arizona.  Ralph's love of cars helped flame and foster many esteemed friendships from coast to coast.

PHOTO GALLERY

Please enjoy some of our family's favorites images and reflections randomly presented.

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