Ralph 0. Williams Jr.

   Ralph 0. Williams Jr., of Orient, died on Friday, May 31, 2002 at the Eastern Long Island Hospital after a long battle with cancer. He struggled to remain active, but finally succumbed to pneumoma.

  Mr. Williams was born on November 27, 1920 in the Bronx, NY to Ralph & and Bessy Magee Williams.

  He was brought up in Keanesburg, NJ. He attended Cooper Union in New York City until he volunteered for the US Army Signal Corps in 1943. He graduated from OCS and continued more advanced schooling at Harvard and MIT. He served a long tour of duty in China with a radar unit.

  After the war, he continued his education at Northeastern University where he graduated in 1947 with a BSEE. He joined the General Electric Co., working in aerospace; initially out of Syracuse, NY, then White Sands, NM. He then managed field service units in Cape Kennedy and Vandenberg Air Base; later becoming a senior systems engineer at the Re-entry Systems Department of GE in Philadelphia, where be worked for 16 years until his retirement in 1980. During his time in Philadelphia, he earned a master’s degree in engineering science from Pennsylvania State University.

  Mr. Williams and his wife bought and restored her family homestead — The Terry-MulfordHouse in Orient. Mr. Williams became an active volunteer in Southold Town and Orient. He was a member of the Landmarks Commission for 20 years, a director of the Suffolk County Historical Society, a founder and active member of Peconic Amateur Radio Club, and a favorite teacher in the AARP 55-Alive driving classes.

  He was a collector and leading authority on antique radios; having written and published numerous articles and a book.

  He is survived by his wife, Elinor, a sister, Ruth Lindsay of Phoenicia, NY; seven children, 14 grandchildren, and four great grandchildren.

  A memorial service will be held at the Methodist Church in Orient on June 29.

  Funeral arrangements are under the direction, of the DeFriest-Grattan Funeral Homes of Southold.

  A request of no flowers please; donations to the Suffolk County Historical Society.