Ralph Nichols Strayhorn, Jr., of Winston-Salem, N.C. and formerly of Durham, N.C., dearly beloved husband, father, grandfather, great-grandfather, brother and friend, peacefully passed away in the early morning of June 4, 2016. He was born on February 16, 1923 in Durham, N.C. to Annie Cooper Strayhorn and Ralph Nichols Strayhorn, Sr. He graduated from his dearly loved University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill in 1947 with a degree in commerce. He played varsity football at UNC and was co-captain of the 1946 Sugar Bowl team. He was a member of Phi Delta Theta fraternity and Gorgons Head Lodge at UNC as well a member of the Order of the Grail and the Order of the Golden Fleece.
Ralph continued to serve the University he loved as a member of the UNC Board of Trustees from 1973-1981 and served as it chairman 1979-1980. Additionally, he served as President of the General Alumni Association from 1984-85 and chaired its $12 million Alumni Center Building Fund Campaign. He served on the Central Selection Committee of the Morehead Foundation, the Board of Visitors and the N.C. Institute of Medicine. Ralph also served as President and General Counsel of the Educational Foundation, and he was awarded the William Richardson Davie Award by the UNC Board of Trustees in 1989.
Ralph enlisted in the Naval ROTC at UNC in 1941 and served in the Pacific theatre from 1943-1946, completing his active service as a sub-chaser commanding officer. He served twenty years in the U.S. Naval Reserve, retiring in 1962 as Lieutenant Commander.
Ralph graduated in 1950 from the University of North Carolina School of Law and was a senior partner in the firm of Newsom, Graham, Strayhorn, Hedrick, Murray, Bryson and Kennon until 1978 when he assumed the executive position of General Counsel of the Wachovia Corporation and the Wachovia Bank and Trust Company until his retirement in 1988. At that time he joined the law firm Petree Stockton & Robinson, as “of Counsel”, a position he served in for several years.
Ralph was of the generation that loved the law. He was President of the North Carolina Bar Association (1971-1972) and a sustaining member of the N.C. Bar. Other positions in which he served and for which he was honored are the Legal Advisory Committee of the New York Stock Exchange, the American College of Trial Lawyers, the American Bar Association, the International Association of Defense Counsel, the Newcomen Society of the United States and the Board of Visitors of the Wake Forest School of Law. He also argued a case before the Supreme Court of the United States and served in the North Carolina General Assembly in 1959.
While residing in his hometown of Durham, Ralph was a member of St. Philips Episcopal Church where he served as a member of the Vestry and as Senior Warden. He also served as President of Hope Valley Country Club. He was currently a member of St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Winston-Salem and a former member of Old Town Club and the Rotary Club of Winston-Salem.
Ralph met Donleen (Donnie) MacDonald Strayhorn of New Orleans in Chapel Hill, and they married in 1949 and celebrated 67 years of marriage together. He is survived by his wife and his daughter, Carol Strayhorn Rose of Atlanta, Ga., her husband Lynn, and daughters, Beth of Atlanta, Ga., her husband Andrew and their son Brice and Ellen of Washington, D.C. and his son, Ralph Nichols Strayhorn, III of Charlotte, N. C., his wife, Kerry, and son Nick, his wife, Andrea, their son Thomas and daughter, Victoria (Torry), both of Charlotte, N.C. He is also survived by his sister, Louise Strayhorn Ramsbottom of North Myrtle Beach, S.C.
The family wishes to thank Mount Eagle Health Care and Hospice of Winston-Salem for their compassionate and professional care.
Funeral arrangements are through Salem Funeral Service. A graveside service and internment will be held on Tuesday, June 7 at 11:00 AM at the Old Chapel Hill Cemetery on Raleigh Road in Chapel Hill. Following internment, a brief reception will be held at the Carolina Inn. A memorial service will be held at 4:00 PM on Tuesday, June 7 at St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Winston-Salem.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Hospice of Winston-Salem, 101 Hospice Lane, Winston-Salem NC, 27103; The Educational Foundation at UNC-Chapel Hill, 450 Skipper Bowles Dr, Chapel Hill, NC 27599 or St Paul's Episcopal Church, 520 Summit St, Winston-Salem, NC 27101.
Online condolences may be sent to www.salemfh.com.