Ralph Joseph Carr, who had reached the age of 71 at the time of his passing, passed away in a peaceful and tranquil manner on March 17, 2024, while he was accompanied by his family. On Friday, March 22, at eleven o’clock in the morning, there will be a memorial service held in his honor to celebrate his life. Topeka Bible Church, which can be found at 1101 SW Mulvane Street, Topeka, Kansas 66604, will be the location of the service that will be held. The family will be present to meet guests who are arriving at the beginning of the event, which will take place one hour before the funeral begins. On November 22, 1952, Ralph was born in the city of Coral Gables, which is situated in the region of Miami, Florida.
She was born in the United States. His boyhood in South Florida laid the groundwork for his lifelong interest for swimming, scuba diving, and the Miami Dolphins. This served as the foundation for his passion, which he has maintained throughout his entire life. The year 1970 marked the year that he graduated from Killian High School, where he had served as the captain of the swim team he had graduated from. In the summer of 1970, he went to a Campus Life camp on Jekyll Island, Georgia, and it was there that he made the decision to embrace Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior. He began his journey toward a relationship with God. He considered this to be the most important event of his entire life.
After spending one year playing water polo at Miami Dade Junior College and another year working in the landscaping business, his newly discovered religion led him to John Brown University in Siloam Springs, Arkansas, which is located in the northern portion of the state. John Brown University is a prestigious institution that is located in the state of Arkansas. The young man from South Florida and the young lady from southern Missouri, Jeanne Nyberg, fell in love with one another while they were both attending John Brown University. The wedding took place in December of 1974, and the pair went on to earn their degrees in Bible studies in May of 1975 from the same institution. Through his involvement with Campus Life, Ralph was able to spend three years working in the lives of high school students from different schools.
Their employment with Youth For Christ, which brought them to the implausible town of Topeka, Kansas, made it possible for them to take advantage of this exceptional opportunity. The year 1978 marked the year that they purchased the Logos bookstore that was situated at Fairlawn Plaza. Following the rebranding of the business as RJ Carr’s Family Bookstore and the expansion of the business to two additional locations, they ultimately made the decision to sell it in the fall of 2004. When Ralph joined the Associated Management team in 2005, he began his career in the field of commercial property management. He remained with the company until his retirement in 2017. Additionally, Ralph and Jeanne grew their family in Topeka by having three children: Paul (1979), Sara (1982), and Thomas (1986). All of these children were born into the family. Every one of these youngsters was born in the city of Topeka. They were all graduates of Cair Paravel Latin School, with three of them receiving their diplomas.
When he was at home, Ralph’s favorite thing to do was to play in the backyard. During the time that he spent riding his John Deere, he had the extraordinary chance to demonstrate his appreciation for the works of God. The flower beds that he maintained were usually bursting with blossoms from a wide range of plants, such as hydrangeas, daffodils, day lilies, peonies, lilacs, phlox, and impatiens of varying types. He was able to observe a large number of birds congregating at feeders that were consistently full from the convenience of his home, which was a cedar-sided structure and was hidden away in the woods of north Topeka. He participated in the annual Great Backyard Bird Count that was carried out by Cornell University and maintained a vigilant eye out for the migrating indigo bunting during the entire month of May. He also kept a watchful eye out for their presence.
Through the entirety of his life, Ralph was able to cultivate meaningful friendships and a feeling of community in every location he chose to call home. In 1975, he became a member of Topeka Bible Church (TBC), where he was baptized by Pastor Thom Burbridge and where he also taught college Sunday School. He has been a member of TBC ever since. Throughout the years that Paul and Jeanne worked at TBC, they were hosts of mini-flocks, and they treasured the relationships that they built within the many Bible studies and home groups that they participated in.
In addition to the dozens of scuba diving adventures that he planned to go on with his close friends around the Caribbean and Central America, he was looking forward to spending his vacations with his family in Miami on a yearly basis. During the 1980s, he joined the Masters Swim Association and started his training program at the YWCA and YMCA in his community. He also began swimming at the Masters Swim Association. Afterwards, he relocated his workout routine to the Capitol Federal Natatorium in order to exercise there. The Blaisdell Pool in Gage Park was his preferred swimming spot throughout the summer months, and he found the most pleasure in participating in the activity there. Among those who are able to carry on after Ralph’s passing are his wife, Jeanne, his children Paul (and his wife Heather), Sara (and her husband Chad), and Thomas (and his wife Ruth), his sister Rita (and her husband Steve), and his grandchildren Cody, Abby, Cali, Jameson, Grace, and Hannah. His parents, Ralph and Aida Carr, had already passed away prior to his birth. He was removed from this world completely.
