Community loses another friend of Lemoore, longtime principal Ralph Peterson dies at 92

The family announced that memorial service will be held for Peterson on March 21 at 1 p.m. at the Lemoore Presbyterian Church, located on 260 B Street.

Ralph Peterson saw much in his 92 years on earth, including surviving the Great Depression and the horrors of World War II. But he was born in a much friendlier place on a warm summer day, June 18, in 1922 to Harry and Ruth Peterson of San Francisco. His father, Harry, supported the family by working for the San Francisco Post Office.

Ralph attended Fremont High School in Oakland and graduated in 1940.

Ralph was an active young man. He played a mean saxophone and organized a swing band entitled appropriately “Ralph Peterson and his orchestra.”  The band played at numerous events including the senior prom.

Ralph longed for an education and it was off to Berkeley, not far from home, where he studied liberal arts. He played in the band and studied hard, that is until war broke out in 1941. After a year and a half of college, Ralph enlisted in the Navy, and spent time in San Diego and Morehead State Teacher’s College (where he studied electronics for the Navy) before heading to New York City to help load ammunition aboard ships.

His next and final assignment was aboard the USS Yorktown, an aircraft carrier that served in virtually every engagement in the South Pacific. He spent two and half years aboard the famous aircraft carrier spending much of his time working and memorizing the dictionary. “I memorized the dictionary, just to have something to do,” he said, and because of his prowess with words Ralph would often help fellow sailors write letters home. It was at that point that he decided to become a teacher.

Escaping the war unscathed, Ralph was released from the Navy and quickly returned to the rigors of academia, enrolling in San Jose State College to become a teacher.

He met a beautiful woman by the name of Ruth Howland at San Jose State and married her on July 29, 1950. They had two kids, both girls, Carol and Connie. They ended up with three grandchildren.

Ralph’s first teaching job was at Dixon High School where he taught social studies and shorthand. He had also attended Heald College where he learned the art of shorthand, which came in handy. He was at Dixon three years before he moved on to Bieber High in 1953, a school of 50 kids in the California backwoods. He was full-time principal and part-time teacher and was forced to drive 70 miles on a dirt road to attend board meetings.

In 1955 he left Bieber and headed to East Nicolas High School, a much larger school of 250 students. He served as principal/superintendent.

In 1957 he ended up at Avenal High School where he served as principal until 1962.

He took the Lemoore High School principal’s job in 1962, replacing Bob Annand. He started with about 650 students and by the end of his tenure it was up to about 1,200 in 1983, when he retired. All told Ralph was at Lemoore High for 21 years as principal. He came to Lemoore primarily because of the Navy. He still had respect for his former service.

“I liked the kids at Lemoore high,” he said in an interview when he was inducted into the Lemoore High School Foundation Hall of Fame as a “Friend of Lemoore High.”

The thing that Ralph is perhaps most proud of is that while he was principal, Lemoore had a reputation unrivaled in the valley. “We were highly thought of,” he said. “There was no comparison between us and other schools.”

Ralph was perhaps the guiding force in maintaining and improving upon the reputation that Lemoore High School enjoyed during his tenure. Only J.F. Graham himself served longer in a position of leadership that Ralph Peterson.

Ralph was involved in the community. He belonged to Rotary for 50 years, and he was a Lions’ Club member.