I'm honored today to dedicate this tribute to a colleague (Ralph Davis) I had the privilege of working with for 28 years. We connected in August 1994 and it was a ride that I absolutely loved every second of it. I will be honest in saying I never thought Ralph would ever leave us - I thought he would live forever.
 
When I told a UIndy colleague about the passing of Ralph, he responded with what we all believe is the most accurate statement ever – "if there was ever a more loyal Greyhound fan, I don't know who it was."
 
We called each other "Boss" - not knowing how we came upon that terminology, but it stuck. If Ralph would say something like, "Boss we need to talk" or "Boss we have to review something," everything I was doing came to a screeching halt and full attention was directed toward "The Boss". To this day, I have the utmost respect toward Ralph for the commitment and attention to detail he always provided. One time, I tried to pull a prank on Ralph by not paying attention and he snapped at me by saying, "focus…you know what we used to do in the military to people like you…" Before he could finish his sentence, I told him I had no desire to pick up residency in Leavenworth, Kansas. Be certain, henceforward, when the "Boss" spoke I listened.
 
We all know Ralph loved numbers. In fact, I did ask Ralph at one point during our tenure if the rumor was true that he and Albert Einstein were roommates during their educational years. Picture the look and response Ralph gave me to that question. Each week, like clockwork, Ralph would want a fund-raising report from us to analyze thoroughly. One particular summer, we directed our student worker, a football player named Randall Courtney, the role of generating the reports. During a meeting, Ralph stated, "Randall I don't know how you came up with these figures but since you played defensive line, I'll accept them, because I'm afraid you might hurt me." Coming to Randall's defense, I told Ralph the report was accurate and he should accept it. Ralph responded, "Oh sure, spoken from a man who flunked Accounting in college."  As always, Ralph was right. What will warm your heart is that Randall, along with every student worker that worked in our department, was deeply loved by Ralph and he coveted them like his own. To this day, when we see Randall Courtney, we always greet him with by asking how's Ralphie's favorite employee?
 
When Rich Reasoner joined Ralph and I in 1999, we soon became the three stooges, three amigos or whatever name was appropriate. Shortly after Rich got accustomed to the office environment and the student workers fell head over heels over with Rich and Ralph, it was Rich's idea to start GADEO, which stood for Greyhound Athletic Development Employee Organization. Rich would explain to each student worker, with Ralph listening of course, how GADEO is an employee organization - not a union -  but an employee organization to handle any grievance a student worker had against me! By year three of hearing the GADEO spiel, Ralph asked Rich how many grievances had been filed and won? Rich was quick to respond with "none!" Occasionally,  we would conduct a GADEO reunion, and to no surprise, the RSVP comments always stated, "make sure Ralph and Rich are there and you can attend Matt as long as you pay for the food and drinks." This statement shows how cherished Ralph was to everyone who worked in our office. For fun can you picture Ralph explaining GADEO to God in heaven and I'm certain God is shaking his head on this one.
 
One day back in the summer of 2000, Rich, Ralph, and I were sitting around in the office and the conversation shifted to the Cubs. It's at this moment, Ralph shares he has never been to Wrigley Field. We were flabbergasted and decided at that very moment that we would take a road trip to Wrigley for a Cubs game. I remember Ralph's first statement upon the agreement. "Are you sure you want to take a bunch of geezers to a baseball game?"
 
When the cast of characters were assembled for the trip, Ralph observed the group resembled a geritol tour. It was a bold statement coming from the man who was the oldest person attending. The name Geritol Tour has stuck and it's been a yearly pilgrimage to "The Friendly Confines" for more than 20 years. Sadly, this coming June, the annual trip will not be the same. We will do our best to remember our good friend and let's hope Ralph works some magic and provides the Cubbies with a win.
 
All of us know how much Ralph loved to be in charge. I'd point out that for EVERY Geritol Tour trip, Ralph had to sit shotgun for the ride. No one dared to ask if they could sit shotgun. That was Ralph's seat. In fact, we all called him the navigator. As each trip commenced, the peanut gallery in the back would shout out, "Everything under control up there, navigator?" Our fearless leader would respond, "yep, all is good." I might add our navigator majority of the time was either stuffing his face with donuts, reading the newspaper or taking a nap. Thank god for GPS.
 
Over the past few days, I have thought to myself what Ralph image will always stick with me. It's his blue World War 2 hat. Once an alum shared with me that he could spot Ralph a mile away at a UIndy game because of that hat. Like a true military person, that hat was his uniform. Proudly worn, proudly represented. In my 28-year relationship with Ralph, the most memorable day I will remember is when Ralph and his brother Howard were offered the opportunity to take the Freedom Honor Flight. It's a flight that flies veterans to Washington D.C. to visit the memorials built in their honor. It was this trip that they received the hats they proudly wore. While listening to Ralph tell me about the adventure, what moved me greatly was hearing the number of letters they received from family and friends, thanking them for their service and patriotism. You can say you're the strongest person around, but hearing them detail the letters and the messages conveyed, brought me to tears.
 
Now, on the other hand, don't let these two choir boys fool you. Trust me when I say, they used those hats to great advantage. Such is the case one Veterans Day. I meet up with Ralph for a Greyhound basketball game that evening. I'm not five steps inside Nicoson Hall when I was ordered by Ralph to come see him for a conversation. As I offer my greeting to him, he said to me in a stern voice, "do you know what happened today?" I respond, "I have no clue, Ralph. What?" He continued. "Howard and I went to the casino today for the Veteran's Day buffet lunch. You're not gonna believe it, but they charged us $5.00." Not knowing what to say and feeling like I'm sitting in front of a congressional hearing, I foolishly respond with an "oh". Ralph immediately said, "Last year they charged us nothing, now this year we have to pay $5.00 and we even wore our hats." Quick on my feet, I say to Ralph, "Well, I think it's high time you stop giving the casino any of your money Ralph."
 
Ralph chaired our Hall of Fame committee, he managed our Coach of the Year awards and the most significant role of them all - he was responsible for all the awards our student-athletes received when they lettered in a sport. I have often thought about asking Webster's to redo the definition of "volunteer" to simply say "see Ralph Davis". You hear these roles and responsibilities, but comprehend all that he did and just say to yourself - what an amazing individual. Out of curiosity, I determined what would be the value/savings Ralph provided for UIndy Athletics based upon his volunteer work of the 28 years we were together. When I finished the calculation - which I'm sure Ralph was laughing at during my exercise - the end result was over $1 million dollars. Amazing, isn't it?
 
If the good Lord would grant me one wish or the opportunity to hit the rewind button, I would line up every student-athlete at UIndy who ever received a plaque, jacket, blanket or framed I for lettering as a student-athlete to say thank you to Ralph. For if it not for Ralph, that student-athlete would have not received that award.
 
The evening Ralph passed away, my wife and I were driving home from having dinner with friends. Not knowing why or having any reason for doing this, we drove down Emerson Avenue right by Ralph's house. I told my wife, it's going to be hard to look down Ralph's street from now on. Moments later after we returned home, I reflected on a conversation from many years ago. In 1993, I was working at the University of Pennsylvania. One Saturday evening, my colleague and I were off to catch a Philadelphia Phillies game. As we were heading to the stadium, my good friend waves as we pass a cemetery. Intrigued, I asked who he was waving to. He tells me his grandfather was buried in the cemetery we just passed and continues by saying, before he passed away he told me to always wave at him when I pass his place of final resting because the wave will always tell him how much I loved him and how much of an impact he made in my life.
 
Hard to believe how a conversation taking place 29 years ago, has an effect on my life today. You'll be interested to know, ever since Ralph's passing, I have made it a point to go out of my way to travel by Ralph's house and simply wave. Sure, many people have looked at me awkwardly, but that's okay. Ralph was smiling and probably laughing too.
 
My hope is that all of us from this moment on when we cruise down Emerson Avenue, look down Waybridge Lane toward Ralph's house…and wave. Because you know that wave will tell our good friend Ralph in heaven how much we loved him and what an impact he made for each and every one of us. Godspeed Boss, there will never be another person quite like you.