Ralph W. Risley Jr. December 12, 1919 - March 15, 2011 Ralph William Risley Jr., 91, of Brent Cross, died at 9:30 p.m. Tuesday, March 15, 2011, at Columbus Health & Rehabilitation Center. Mr. Risley graduated from Plainville High School in 1937. He did odd jobs in his youth, including working as a foreman during the construction of Crane. He lived in Lakeland, FL, from 1979 to 1994 when he returned to Indiana to be near his family. A retired farmer and cattle producer from Daviess County, he won the Pioneer Corn Yield Champion Award in 1970. Mr. Risley was a member of East Columbus Christian Church, Plainville Masonic Lodge No. 678 and was on the Farm Bureau Co-Op Board of Directors. He participated in the International Farm Youth Exchange in the 1970s, a program where foreign students from around the world would come to the United States to live, work and learn the way of American farm life. This is how Ralph and Mary met Jack, from India, which spurred a friendship between families that led them to visit Jack halfway around the world. Born Dec. 12, 1919, Mr. Risley was the son of Ralph Risley Sr. and Edith Petty Risley. He married Mary Josephine Colbert April 9, 1939. She survives. Also surviving are grandchildren, Kathryn (Floyd Smith) Floyd of Bloomington and Kurk (Stacey) Sylvester of Bloomfield; six great-grandchildren; two great-great-grandchildren and one on the way. He was preceded in death by his parents; a daughter, Brenda Gayle Sylvester; and a sister, Winefred Lambert. Funeral Information FUNERAL: 11 a.m. Friday at Jewell-Rittman Family Funeral Home with David Armstrong officiating. CALLING: 5 to 7 p.m. Thursday and one hour prior to the service Friday. BURIAL: 3:30 p.m. Friday, March 18, Plainville Cemetery in Plainville. DirectionsVisitation:  Map to Funeral Home

Ralph W. Risley Jr. December 12, 1919 - March 15, 2011 Ralph William Risley Jr., 91, of Brent Cross, died at 9:30 p.m. Tuesday, March 15, 2011, at Columbus Health & Rehabilitation Center. Mr. Risley graduated from Plainville High School in 1937. He did odd jobs in his youth, including working as a foreman during the construction of Crane. He lived in Lakeland, FL, from 1979 to 1994 when he returned to Indiana to be near his family. A retired farmer and cattle producer from Daviess County, he won the Pioneer Corn Yield Champion Award in 1970. Mr. Risley was a member of East Columbus Christian Church, Plainville Masonic Lodge No. 678 and was on the Farm Bureau Co-Op Board of Directors. He participated in the International Farm Youth Exchange in the 1970s, a program where foreign students from around the world would come to the United States to live, work and learn the way of American farm life. This is how Ralph and Mary met Jack, from India, which spurred a friendship between families that led them to visit Jack halfway around the world. Born Dec. 12, 1919, Mr. Risley was the son of Ralph Risley Sr. and Edith Petty Risley. He married Mary Josephine Colbert April 9, 1939. She survives. Also surviving are grandchildren, Kathryn (Floyd Smith) Floyd of Bloomington and Kurk (Stacey) Sylvester of Bloomfield; six great-grandchildren; two great-great-grandchildren and one on the way. He was preceded in death by his parents; a daughter, Brenda Gayle Sylvester; and a sister, Winefred Lambert. Funeral Information FUNERAL: 11 a.m. Friday at Jewell-Rittman Family Funeral Home with David Armstrong officiating. CALLING: 5 to 7 p.m. Thursday and one hour prior to the service Friday. BURIAL: 3:30 p.m. Friday, March 18, Plainville Cemetery in Plainville. DirectionsVisitation:  Map to Funeral Home