Obituary

MAST, Mr. Ralf Myers, Jr., 85, of Midlothian, Va., passed away Sunday, February 12, with his family by his side. Ralf was born October 26, 1937 in Danville, Va. to the late Ralf Myers Mast Sr. and Elizabeth Fearrington. He is survived by his loving wife of 56 years, Diane Cooper Mast; his daughter, Wellons Mast Wilkinson (David) of Atlanta; his son, Ralf Myers Mast III of Cary; his beloved grandchildren, Grace, Dailey, Cooper and Anna Moog, all of Atlanta, Jack and Henry Mast of Cary, Charlotte and Jonah Wilkinson of Midlothian; his sister, Betsy Astin of Winston-Salem; and numerous nieces and nephews. In addition to his parents, Ralf was preceded in death by his daughter-in-law, Ranny Mast.

Ralf grew up in Danville, Va., and graduated from George Washington High School in 1955. He went on to serve in the Army and was honorably discharged in 1957. He attended Virginia Tech and graduated in 1961. While at VA Tech, he was a member of the Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity, where he served as pledge master his senior year. It was there he met lifelong friends that he enjoyed traveling and attending Hokies sporting events with. He met the love of his life in Richmond and they were married in 1966. After a few moves with his career, they ended up back in the Richmond area where they would spend the rest of his life. He worked in commercial and residential real estate until his retirement. He was an avid reader, reading a book a week for most of his life. He loved cooking, especially breakfast for his family. He was always a dapper dresser and modeled and worked at Davidson's clothing store in Blacksburg while in college. Ralf never met a stranger. After his retirement, he wanted something to do where he could still interact with people on a daily basis and continued with a part-time job at Home Depot and volunteered at Johnston-Willis Hospital. He was still doing both until his diagnosis. Other than his love of his family, his second biggest love was animals. He never went on a walk without dog treats in his pockets and while working at Home Depot, he always had treats in his orange apron. He never failed to ask about his grandchildren when he talked to his children on the phone but also always asked about his "grand dogs" who he may have loved the most at times!