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![]() Tribute to Ralph C. Fox |
"Let our help be offered but never inflicted. Remind us that our own examples serve the cause more powerfully than any words we might speak. Let us never give up hope nor fail to advance the cause of hope at every occasion. Give us courage, oh God, to speak the truth as we have learned it, without rancor or indictment. It is not always necessary for us to be right but it is necessary for us always to be honest and courageous.."
Ralph C. Fox
Ralph Fox was a photo journalist who through his business and private life helped hundreds, probably thousands stay sober.
Ralph was a newspaperman, a commercial photographer and a businessman. He undertook what appeared to be impossible when no one else had ever tried it - establishing and directing halfway houses for alcoholics, many of whom in those early days had not had the benefit of medical treatment for their addictions. He treated the residents as responsible adults and set an example of a life sanely balanced between work and recreation based on the spiritual values of the twelve steps of Alcoholics Anonymous.
Ralph was humble, energetic and hard working. He never asked anyone to do a task he was unwilling to do himself.
My perception of Ralph was that he was a genuine humble person, successful, respected and caring. He wasn't complicated. He had class. He was a gentleman with a good sense of humor who could tell a good story. He valued family and never engaged in self promotion.
I sought his council on numerous occasions and always valued his wisdom which was disseminated to me in such away that at no time did I ever feel inadequate or lesser. |