Ralph H. Dorney, of Fruitland Park Florida, passed away on May 3, 2023, at the age of 93 while at the Mike Conley Hospice House in Clermont Florida.
He was the beloved husband of the late Marilyn Dorney of Fruitland Park. He was born on December 10th of 1929 in Allentown, Pennsylvania. Ralph was the youngest of six children of Russel Dorney and Maggie A (Butz) Dorney of Dorney Park, Allentown, PA. As a teenager, he worked at the F.T. Dorney Baking Company. He attended South Whitehall High School, now called Parkland, where he graduated in 1947. Ralph later went on to graduate from Kutztown State University in 1952, and later received his master’s degree at New York University in 1969. In December of 1947, he married his high school sweetheart, Annabelle Beck. Four years later, they had a son named Allen. Unfortunately, Annabelle died shortly after their son was born. On May 26, 1952, he married Marilyn (Musselman) Dorney and together they had four more children that they raised in Allentown, PA. They spent 69 years happily married in which they were inseparable.
After obtaining his degree, Ralph went on to teach at Parkland High School where he taught Driver Education and obtained the nickname “Crash”. Despite being a calm, cool, and collected teacher with nerves of steel, many students will recall him saying “the brake, the brake, put on the brake!” Being a teacher gave him the opportunity to spend summers with his wife and children while traveling to many National Parks. The beauty of nature inspired him to take an interest in photography. Ralph enjoyed camping and loved to refurbish old and damaged travel trailers. On snowy school days, he enjoyed baking cookies with recipes from his family’s bakery. He and Marilyn took an interest in the Bible and together after studying the Bible they became baptized Jehovah’s Witnesses in June 1977. Because of their love for God, they shared the Bible truths with others. Ralph served as an Elder in several congregations of Jehovah’s Witnesses for many years.
After 33 long years of teaching teenagers to drive, he retired to take on his passion for traveling. He and Marilyn spent several years touring the country in a motorhome, making many new friends along the way. In 1994 they bought a home in Leesburg, FL and settled there. Ralph was a descendant of Solomon Dorney, the owner and creator of Dorney Park, in which he then grew up on the property of Dorney Park which blossomed his love for amusement parks and nature. He loved basketball, snowmobiles, motorcycles, anything with wheels, singing, and was an excellent whistler. He even had a well-known catch phrase of “Howdy do, howdy do!” and from time to time you could catch him singing “Shoo fly pie and apple pan dowdy, make your eyes light up and your tummy say howdy”.
Ralph is survived by his son, Allen and his wife Mary of Leesburg FL, son Kenneth of Flagstaff AZ, daughter Susan of Fruitland Park FL, daughter Linda and her husband Jeffrey Smith of Allentown PA, and daughter Lisa of Umatilla FL. He was the proud grandfather of 14 grandchildren and 15 great-grandchildren.
Ralph confidently looked forward to the time when Jehovah God will bring back to life all those in His memory to enjoy perfect health on a paradise earth.
A memorial & celebration of the life of Ralph Dorney will be held at 2:00 PM on Saturday, May 27th at the Kingdom Hall of Jehovah’s Witnesses at 502 Urick Street, Fruitland Park, FL.
The program will be available live on Zoom for anyone, anywhere to watch. (2:00 PM Eastern Time) Zoom ID: 878 9836 5136 Pass code: 522524.
