Ralph Ewell Carlisle

On November 2nd, 2015, death, as it must to all men, came to Judge Ralph Ewell Carlisle. Born in Cairo, GA, on August 27th, 1916, Ralph attended and graduated from the University of Georgia at Athens, in 1937, as a member of the Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity, with a baccalaureate degree. In 1941, after returning from post-graduate schooling at Northwestern University, in Chicago, IL, Ralph met the lovely Margaret McDaniel. Raised in Alamo, GA, Margaret was a former basketball player and graduate of Middle Georgia College in Milledgeville, GA. Ralph and Margaret married and settled in Avondale, GA; where they raised three boys: Bill, a lawyer; Tommy, an All-American Georgia Tech football player; and Robert, also a lawyer. The two remained faithfully married for over sixty nine years, until Margaret’s death in 2009. Serving in the Navy during World War II, Ralph traveled the world by sea for three years before being discharged in 1945. After the war, he served as the Clerk and Treasurer of the City of Cairo and as an auditor at the State Department of Welfare now “DFACS”. In 1957, Ralph Carlisle was appointed the Deputy Clerk of the Georgia Court of Appeals, where his father, Ira Carlisle, sat as a judge. It was here that Ralph developed his own passion for the law; leading him to apply to Atlanta Law School, where he graduated in 1960 as Valedictorian of his class. Ralph’s service as an active member of several organizations, including the Atlanta Bar Association, Lawyers Club of Atlanta, Elks Lodge, and American Legion, contributed to his appointment as the City Judge of Avondale, GA, from 1971 to 1974. In 1976, Ralph was elected to Dekalb County’s newly created State Court judgeship, where he served from 1976 to 1987. Serving as a committee member, and later, as president of the Council of State Court Judges, he played an instrumental role in the establishment of both the Community Service Program for criminal offenders in Georgia, and the Uniform Rules for the State Courts of Georgia. A talented and active musician throughout his life, Ralph taught his three boys to read, play and appreciate music. He was a member of the Callanwolde Concert Band, UGA Marching Redcoat Band, and the UGA University Alumni Band. In his final years, seated “between the hedges” on the 50 yard line, Ralph entered Sanford Stadium one last time, to be honored as UGA’s oldest living band member, before a cheering UGA homecoming crowd. Ralph Ewell Carlisle has now rejoined so many of those he loved; including his wife, Margaret M. Carlisle; his parents, Ira Carlisle and Mamie Ellen Drew Carlisle; his siblings Oze and Edwin Carlisle; his three sons, William R. Carlisle, Sr., Thomas I. Carlisle, Sr., and Robert E. Carlisle, Sr.; his grandchild, Jefferson W. Carlisle; and great grandson, Connor Riggs. He is survived, and will be greatly missed, by his younger sister, Maurise Morris, of Jacksonville, FL; his grandchildren, Thomas I. Carlisle, Jr., William R. Carlisle, Jr., Robert E. Carlisle, Jr., Elizabeth E. Blair, and Margaret Katherine Carlisle; his great grandchildren, Lauren Kathleen Carlisle, William Drew Carlisle, Dylan Thomas Carlisle, Jefferson Davis Carlisle, Abigail Margaret Carlisle, Ansley Carlisle Blair, Brandon Anthony Blair, Jr., Avery Michelle Carlisle and Chloe Katherine Carlisle; and former daughter in law Sandra W. Carlisle, and caregiver, Cathy Grindle, who both remained at his side through his final days. Ralph Carlisle’s ashes will be interred at the Floral Hill Memory Gardens, located at 3000 Lawrenceville Highway, Tucker, GA 30084, following a memorial service to be held in their mausoleum chapel, at 1:00 p.m. on November 14th, 2015, for all of those wishing to celebrate his life.