Obituary of Ralph Einertson

Ralph Olin Einertson, 70, of Limon, Colorado passed away at his home on April 20, 2013. Ralph was born on July 18, 1942 to Orin and Clara P. (Kjosness) Einertson in Limon, Colorado. To this union four children were born, Ralph, Lavon, Arlen and Diane. Ralph was raised in Limon, graduating from Limon High School in 1960. On May 6, 1964 Ralph’s number was called and like so many other young men of that time he was drafted into the Vietnam War. Ralph served his country honorably and was discharged April 30, 1966 receiving the Vietnam Service Medal. After returning home Ralph continued his education at a junior college and then was employed with the Ball Corporation. In the early 60’s they were one of the leading manufacturers of space satellites. The Ball Corporation took Ralph’s natural talents as a welder and trained him as a cryogenic welder. In fact, Ralph was such a good cryogenic welder; the Ball Corporation tasked him with welding the aluminum lines moving liquid nitrogen powering their satellites. There was little room for error and if a weld would break up in space the entire project would all be for not. Ralph found this type of high stress job very rewarding. In fact, when asked to join a Ball flyaway engineering team traveling throughout Europe and the Far East assisting out allies in designing and building satellites, he jumped at the opportunity. His primary responsibility while abroad was to teach others how to properly perform cryogenic welding tasks. Ralph gave 20 plus years of dedicated service to his craft and skill. Ralph was never one to just sit around and do nothing. So as someone who was very gifted with their hands, not only with welding but also with wood, he started to tinker at home with various projects. One of his favorite things to make was miniature scale models. Ralph would build miniatures of John Deere tractors. His second love was the Broncos. Ralph had a brick made out of Styrofoam that he would often toss at the TV when he was upset with a referee’s call or the Bronco’s performance. With the badgers being broadcasted on the radio Ralph could often be found switching between channels and listening to Badger sports radio. A local love was the Railroad Park; Ralph volunteered and was one of the initial members that worked to help get it up and running. Ralph was preceded in death by his parents Orin and Clara and younger sister Diane. He is survived by one brother Arlen and his wife Claudia Einertson of Red Lands, California and one sister Lavon and husband Ronald Jacobs of Harker Heights, Texas, and numerous nieces and nephews and friends.