Ralph Wyman
Ralph Wyman
February 7, 1926 – February 22, 2025
On February 22, 2025, the world lost a compassionate, witty, marvelous man, Ralph Mark Wyman. Described by many as a true gentleman in every sense of the word and a father figure to many, he lived a remarkable life, filled with adventure, love and accomplishment.
Ralph lived 99 long and wonderful years, 67 of them with his wife, Toni, his rock by his side. He was born in 1926, in Aussig, now Usti nad Labem, in Czechoslovakia, but as a child of war, he and his family fled to England in 1938. After two years at school in the British countryside, Ralph and his parents emigrated to Canada two weeks before Dunkirk. He graduated from Upper Canada College in Toronto before emigrating once more, this time to the United States. After graduating from NYU and attending business school at Columbia University, he married the love of his life, Toni, in 1947. They moved from Manhattan to Greenwich, CT, in 1950, where Ralph would spend the next 75 years of his life as an engaged and active member of the Greenwich community.
Family was paramount to Ralph in all things, including business. He and his brothers, Charlie and Henry, worked closely together in various pursuits, the most important being running the family businesses after their father died in 1960. He navigated those responsibilities with commitment, patience, grace, and great humor, fostering an environment where colleagues and employees stayed for decades, not years. Through various mergers and acquisitions, Ralph’s final place of employment was Truist Wealth Management, where his knowledge and the perspective he had gained over a 65-year career made him a terrific resource for the younger executives. Ralph went to his office until the week before he died, but his devotion to both his work and his family never faltered.
While interested in many of the performing arts, Ralph’s greatest love was opera, having first attended when he was five years old in Aussig. Threatened punishment for him as a child was not being allowed to go the opera that week! When asked what he would like to come back as in another lifetime, his reply was “a Verdi baritone!” He and Toni were patrons of the Metropolitan Opera for over 50 years and attended regularly for many of those years.
Ralph also was an accomplished athlete, his favorite sports being tennis, golf and skiing, the latter he still did until he was 89. However, many would argue that the sport he was best known for was joke telling. At the height of his powers, he professed to know about 500 jokes. No one would contest that fact, and most would say they also never heard him blow a punchline!
Another major focus of Ralph’s was in giving back to the Greenwich community and beyond. He served on the board of Pittsburgh Theological Seminary for 10 years and then at Princeton Theological Seminary for 25 years. When at Princeton, he was selected to succeed Sir John Templeton as the Chairman of the Investment Committee, a position he proudly held for 15 years. Ralph was a member of First Presbyterian Church Greenwich for over 60 years, serving as an Elder and as an usher for many of those years. He and Toni were also on the board of the Community Chest, the precursor to the Greenwich United Way. But Ralph’s longest commitment was to Kids in Crisis in Greenwich, to which he devoted 29 years, fundraising most of that time. He proudly boiled down his approach to “You got it. We need it. Please send it!”
Perhaps his greatest accomplishment though was being the ultimate devoted father, uncle, grandfather and friend. Affectionately known as “Papa” by his grandchildren (and all of their friends), he happily imparted his passion for travel, his wisdom in philanthropic pursuits, the joy to be found in family, and his love of dogs, of which he and Toni had 26. Known as “Cookie Monster” with just cause, he also had a drawer full of hard candies, both at work and at home, his favorite being filled raspberry drops. He loved playing Tetris on a Gameboy, telling jokes to match whatever occasion arose, a good handkerchief to handle his enormous sneezes, elbow patch sweaters, the movie “Moonstruck”, lunching on samples at Costco, and a Dewar’s on the rocks with a splash of soda.
Ralph has been described as loyal, kind, funny, a great mind, a true patriarch and pater familias, a legend, a bringer of joy, and “a man after God’s own heart if ever there was one.” He is survived by his daughter, Leslie Cooper and son-in-law, John, grandchildren, Mark (Kerry), Clare (David), and Eric (Julia) Cooper, great-granddaughter, Mackenzie, countless nieces and nephews and friends who loved him. A celebration of this wonderful man will be held at a later date. In lieu of flowers, please consider sending a contribution to the Kids in Crisis Ralph M. Wyman Fund, 1 Salem Street, Cos Cob, CT 06807 or to the charity of your choice.
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