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Ralph Onstine, of McCammon Idaho, passed away on Feb. 19, 2025. He was born on Feb. 5, 1940, at St. Vincent Hospital in Billings, Montana, five minutes before his identical twin brother, Ray. He was adamant he was the oldest. His parents were Frederick William Onstine and Norma Louise Elder Onstine. He grew up in Powell, Wyoming and graduated from Powell High School in 1958.
Growing up, he enjoyed farming sugar beets and working on a dairy farm. He and Ray thinned an acre of sugar beets earning $12.50 each and were able to pay their Uncle Louie $25 for a 1931 Model A Ford. Ralph was a Life Scout and spent three weeks in the Bighorn Mountains as a member of the Boy Scout camp staff. The summer of his junior year, he played on the American Legion fast pitch softball team which traveled all over the Big Horn Basin and Montana.
On Oct. 21, 1958, Ralph joined the U.S. Navy. After graduating Aviation Electronics school, he was shipped to Yokosuka, Japan where he received orders to Electronic Counter Measures Squadron One (VQ1). Ralph was a Navy Aviation Electronics Technician, 2nd Class, where he served from 1958-1962.
Ralph graduated from the University of Wyoming in January 1967 with a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering. After a time in Texas and Utah, he started his career in Phoenix, Arizona with Motorola and ON Semiconductor, retiring after 35 years.
While in Arizona, he and his wife, Loree, raised their three children: John, Tia and Kris. They were an active family —camping, fishing, water and snow skiing, boating, traveling and playing sports.
After retirement, Ralph moved to McCammon, Idaho and married Nora Lee. They spent the last 21 years enjoying family, their dogs, traveling, gardening and serving in their church. Ralph also enjoyed working his land and fishing along the Portneuf River.
Ralph will always be remembered for his love of flying, his military service and patriotism, his love for family and his family history, strong work ethic, being resilient, and his need for Pepsi and Hershey bars.
He is survived by his three children: John, Tia (Jeanne) and Kris; three grandsons: Tanner, Johnny and Cole, as well as several nieces, nephews and cousins; also, by Nora Lee’s children and their families.
A memorial service in Idaho will be held at 2 p.m., Thursday, March 13, 2025, at the McCammon LDS Stake Center, 403 W. 16th St. McCammon, Idaho. A funeral service in Wyoming will be held at 11 a.m., Saturday, March 15, at the the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on 1026 Ave. E Powell, Wyoming. Family will visit with friends an hour prior to the service. Interment will follow the service at Crown Hill Cemetery, 676 Lane 9, Powell, Wyoming, with a reception at the Powell Fire Hall.
