Obituary of Ralph Carl Fields

Ralph Carl Fields (89) resident of St. Maries, ID died April 4, 2016 at Hospice House of North Idaho. He was born April 22, 1926 to Carl and Vanila (Gibson) Fields at St. Maries, ID. Ralph grew up in St. Maries. He left school early to work in area logging camps. Ralph was drafted into the U.S. Army in April of 1945. He was honorably discharged in September of 1945 due to the end of the War. Ralph returned to St. Maries following his discharge. Ralph married Delores Y. Prince on May 31, 1949 at Coeur d’ Alene, ID. They made their home in St. Maries. Ralph worked nine years for L. R. Pugh at the St. Maries Lumber Company. He then went to work for private logging contractors. These contractors included Bud McCall, Jim Beal, Fred Guenther and the Robinson Brothers. Ralph concluded his career in the timber industry after working 18 years for the St. Maries Complex of Potlatch Corp. He retired in 1991. His wife Delores died in 2011. Ralph wrote in his final wishes “Remember me with fondness, I had a good and long life.” Ralph loved family get-togethers and always enjoyed the good food. He loved to go on long rides to different towns and always ran into someone he knew. Ralph loved to fish, camp and go for boat rides. He could spend all day driving around old logging roads taking his dog’s for a ride. He loved building bird houses and going downtown and having coffee with his friends. Ralph was a good provider, hard worker, dependable and always willing to help someone who needed it. He had a great sense of humor and loved his animals. Ralph is survived by his daughter and son-in-law Carlene and Tom Coit of Hayden, ID and daughter Judy Kuntz of Newman Lake, WA. Ralph is also survived by 8 grandchildren and 15 great grandchildren and 4 great great-grandchildren. He was preceded in death by son Russell Fields in 2009. A funeral service will be this Friday April 8, 2016 at 11:00 am at Hodge Funeral Home in St. Maries. Interment will follow at Woodlawn Cemetery.