| Notes |
- The Salt Lake Tribune, Utah, 20 Jun 1997
Ralph Bassett Wright
Ralph Bassett Wright, age 94, died Wednesday morning, June 18, 1997, in Salt
Lake City, Utah. He was born at home in American Fork on March 12, 1903,
during a spring snowstorm, to parents, Charles Gilbert Wright and Elizabeth
June Bassett Wright, delighted to have a boy as their first child. After his
mother's death when he was age 9, the family moved to Salt Lake City, where he
was reared by a loving stepmother, Clara Ball. Ralph courted and married Afton
Middlemiss in the Salt Lake Temple on July 5, 1929, and in time they became
the parents of four sons. Ralph's career interests were in banking and
finance. In 1934, he became president of the Salt Lake chapter of the American
Institute of Banking. He worked for Halloran Judge Trust Company, becoming
vice president and director in 1936, and in the position helped after t
Great Depression many people who had their home foreclosed, recover the
homes. He later worked for Equitable Life of New York, and his interest turned
to real estate appraising, becoming in 1939, a member of the American
Institute of Real Estate Appraisers. He left Equitable Life in 1946 to become
executive vice president of the Mortgage Department of the Union Bank a
Trust Company, later becoming president of that bank, which was afterwa
purchased by First Security Bank of Utah. He retired from First Security
Corporation as Senior Vice President over mortgage lending in 1973. He worked
privately as a real estate appraiser until 1991, retiring after 52 years as a
member of the American Institute of Real Estate Appraisers. Ralph worked many
years with the YMCA, and the Salvation Army, serving many Thanksgiving Day
meals to those in need. Many were the times he stepped out of his bank
president's office, donned hat and overcoat to stand in front of Auerbach's
store to ring a bell soliciting funds for the Salvation Army. He was a charter
member of the Board of Directors of Deseret Trust Co., owned by the LDS
Church. He was a president of the Salt Lake Kiwanis Club and the Ft.
Douglas/Hidden Valley Country Club. He was an enthusiastic golfer and a superb
fly-fisherman. Ralph was a lifelong member of the LDS Church. His wife of 59
years preceded him in death. He is survived by four sons and their wive
Ralph M. and Julia, of Bountiful; C. Richard and Elizabeth, of Drape
Robert and Janet; and David, all of Salt Lake City. He has 16 grandchildren
and 18 great-grandchildren. He is also survived by a brother and his wife,
Earl and Helen Wright, of Salt Lake City; two sisters and their husband
Margaret and Loyal Pierce, of Burbank, CA; June and Hal Glenn, of Gilbert, AZ.
He was preceded in death by a sister, Ethel, and her husband, Russell Rodgers.
Funeral services will be held at 12 noon on Saturday, June 21, 1997, at the
Monument Park 15th Ward Chapel, 1320 So. Wasatch Dr., Salt Lake City. Friends
may call Friday from 6-8 p.m. at the Larkin Sunset Lawn Mortuary, 2350 East
1300 So. and one hour prior to services at the chapel. Interment will be at
Wasatch Lawn Memorial Park, Salt Lake City.
|
Bassett Family Association Database
1903 - 1997 (94 years)