RALPH K. PUCKETT
Jan. 10, 1943-Jan. 8, 2017
Ralph Keith Puckett, a longtime resident of Mount Olive, N.C., died Jan. 8, 2017, at Wayne Memorial Hospital. He was just two days shy of being 74 years old.
He was a graduate of North Carolina State University and the University of South Carolina.
Ralph spent more than three years on active duty as an officer in the United States Navy. Most of this time was abroad an aircraft carrier on several deployments in the Atlantic, Europe and Mediterranean areas. After leaving active duty, he was in the Naval Reserves for more than 20 years from which he retired.
Ralph was a chemical and process engineer for the Monsanto Chemical Corp. in Jacksonville, Fla., and Greenwood, S.C.
Subsequently, he became a civilian adjunct professor for the United States Navy's college level afloat program offered to sailors on naval ships. For several years on many different ships around the world, he taught mathematics, chemistry and calculus-based physics. The program was sanctioned and sponsored by the University of Texas.
Ralph is survived by one brother, John R. Puckett and wife, Mary Louise, of Dunwoody, Ga.; one sister, Gaynelle P. Summerlin of Virginia Beach, Va.; as well as several nieces and nephews.
Graveside services and interment will be Saturday, Jan. 14, at 3 p.m. at Wayne Memorial Park of Goldsboro, N.C.
In lieu of flowers, please consider a contribution to Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, 3601 Eisehhower Ave., Suite 450, Alexandria, Va., 22304
http://events.lls.org/pages/nca/puckett.
A Tyndall service.
(Pd)
Published in Obituaries on January 13, 2017 10:01 AM