Ralph Charles Mannheimer, 1916 - 2009

August 21, 2009
by Mikki Shaw

Ralph was born at 577 East 8th Street in Brooklyn, as was his sister, my mother, Janet. There were four generations of us in that house starting with Hannah Sichel, one of five daughters who came from Germany with her family in the mid nineteenth century. Hannah was the mother of Jeanette, who married Charles Mannheimer.  The two spent their entire married life on East 8th Street—57 years.

Ralph and his sister Janet grew up there. When Janet married Jack Shaw they moved into the downstairs apartment at 577 and their children, Karen and I, grew up there as well. All of us - Ralph, Janet, Karen and I—went to Erasmus Hall High School. Ralph went on City College where he graduated with a degree in business. In college, he formed friendships with fraternity brothers that became a cornerstone in his life, men and their families that he remained friendly with for the next 70 years.

At the onset of World War II Ralph joined the Navy and served as a lieutenant aboard the USS Benner. His ship survived a kamikaze attack and went on to help secure Tokyo harbor after Japan’s surrender. Ralph and his shipmates were among the first occupying forces. After the war, Ralph went into business as an insurance broker, a career he pursued for the rest of his working life, in an office in the financial district in Manhattan. He was the last of a breed – a totally independent insurance broker. His success was based on the personal relationships he formed with people. People trusted Ralph, and he earned and deserved that trust. Nobody didn’t like Ralph.

In 1953, he met and quickly married the beautiful Eva Berman, a young foreign born woman with whom he made his life for the next 55 years. The wedding took place at the Officers Club at the Brooklyn Navy Yard. His nieces, Gabrielle and I were their flower girls.

In 1964 Ralph and Eva moved far away to upstate New York. When my family planned a trip to Ossining, my parents would take the car into the shop to check the engine and tires, as if we were driving to Buffalo. To us, it seemed like a long trip. But Ralph and Eva’s home on Lakeview Road and their beautiful little lake were our family’s country resort all the years we were growing up.

Once retired, Ralph entered a new phase of his life centered on community service and—surprising for an intellectual from Brooklyn—lots of physical activity. He cross country skied, he ice skated all year long, indoors and out, he bicycled, and he swam in his beloved Stillwater Lake. Involved in the Lake Association for many years, he prided himself on knowing everyone’s name.

He was also active in the Millwood Task Force, and attended meetings well into his 90s. In any activity in which he became involved, he developed strong personal relationships and he was part of communities of bikers and skaters and community activists that transcended age.

When he was diagnosed with lung cancer late this winter, Ralph elected to undergo a course of chemotherapy . For months, despite chronic fatigue and bleak test results, he pushed himself—rode his stationary bike and tried to walk every day—determined to try to stay in shape and keep up both his strength and his spirits. We lost Ralph at 93, but it was still too soon.

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