Ralph G. Greinke

Ralph Greinke was born, along with his twin brother Ronald, in Mt. Prospect, IL, to Arthur and Amanda (Glade) Greinke, joining their older sister Arlene (Peterson).  When Ralph was 16, his father passed away, and he and his siblings began working to help support the family, while continuing to attend school.

Ralph’s early interests included playing the accordion, participating in sports, and reading.  One summer, on a trip to Door County, WI, he met a lovely waitress at Wilson’s, a local ice cream shop.  The waitress’s name was Marlys Ross.  They both attended Concordia Teachers College in River Forest, IL.  While at Concordia, Ralph was the editor of the school newspaper.

After graduation, Ralph and Marlys were married in 1960 at Marlys’ home church in Fisher, MN and moved to the Chicago area.  Ralph and Marlys grew their family with the births of Ross, Colleen Schmitt, Elizabeth (Bill) Roth, and Abigail Jackson.  Ralph was the proud grandpa of Daniel, Amanda (Jason), Charles and Giselle.

Ralph accepted a call in 1961 to be a social studies teacher at Milwaukee Lutheran High School, where he taught for 36 years.  He became the head of the social studies department and on weekends, he worked on “the chain gang” for home football games.  He received a master’s degree from Northwestern University along with continuing education credits from the University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee in history and anthropology.

Christian faith was very important in Ralph’s life.  Both Ralph and Marlys were ministers – one as a Lutheran teacher, the other in church music.  Ralph wrote a paper for an anthropology class he was taking in 1982 in which he wanted to make a spiritual case for building a sustainable society.  “The only way to sustain this society,” he wrote, “is to love each other and believe in each other as God does us.”  He summed up by saying that the only sustainable society is “ecclesia triumphans”, or the church triumphant, the heavenly city.

Lovers of music, traveling and the world, Ralph and Marlys led many choral tours to Europe.  Marlys rehearsed and led the choir while Ralph researched and planned the itinerary.  Tours included trips to England, Scotland, Germany, Austria, Italy, and Switzerland.

Marlys passed away in 1994.  Ralph and his former wife Jill were married in 1995 and were married for 23 years.  Ralph loved Jill’s daughter Karis like she was his own child.

Upon his retirement, Ralph enjoyed working for Dretzka golf course, the Wauwatosa Library, and for Riedel and Associates, where he assisted in tuning pipe organs.

Throughout his life, Ralph nurtured his love of painting, reading, music, exercise, running, and sports.  He was greatly loved and will be greatly missed.

A beloved saint joined the Celestial Choir on Saturday, November 10, 2018, age 83. Faithful and caring father of Ross, Colleen Schmitt, Elizabeth (Bill) Roth and Abigail Jackson. Proud grandpa of Daniel, Amanda (Jason), Charles and Giselle Roth. Brother of Ronald (Jane) Greinke. Ralph is survived by his former wife Jill Greinke, and many relatives, friends, colleagues, and students.

Visitation will be held at St. Matthews Evangelical Lutheran Church, 1615 North Wauwatosa Avenue, Milwaukee, Wisconsin on Friday, November 16, 2018, 2:00 PM – 4:00 PM.  Funeral Service at 4:00 PM. Entombment will be held at Wisconsin Memorial Park.

In lieu of flowers, memorials appreciated to Master Singers of Milwaukee.