Ralph was one of the first Officers I met when I started as a nurse at the prison in Faribault back in 1995. That meeting left its mark and was a story we retold and laughed about for years after. In the summer of 1995 Ralph was partnered with Conan and they had recently completed the K9 Academy. If you ever met Conan you would remember him, and for those who never had the pleasure I will give you a brief rundown. Conan was an intense edgy animal always on the prowl and always seemingly on the edge unhinged. Conan had experienced some stress and health issues during his academy, and developed an aversion to men in white lab coats during unpleasant veterinarian visits. The day I met he and Ralph, Conan was skinny as a cheetah, had lost some patches of fur while vetting, and just looked feral.
As the K9 team, Ralph and Conan routinely made rounds of the institution and a favorite stop for them was in Health Services where we always had fresh coffee in the pot next to Conan’s dog treat bin. The coffeemaker was on a counter at the open end of a rather short, very narrow hallway that dead-ended at the Officer’s chair and the med pass window. I had just gone down that hallway when Ralph and Conan walked in. Per their usual routine, Ralph draped Conan’s lead across his haunches and proceeded to grab some coffee and a treat for beast. When I turned around in my bright white lab coat I saw Conan next to Ralph locked up in a half crouch with his eyes trained on mine and me pinned at the end of the hall. I stood stock still and when I began to as calmly as possible say, “Mr. dog man, I think your dog is going to eat me”, Conan began to emit this low primal growl. Ralph immediately took control of Conan’s lead and authoritatively commanded “NO” and “DOWN”, to which Conan begrudgingly complied.
After everyone but Conan’s nerves had settled, Ralph gave me a warm welcome to the facility and we had a nice little laugh.
Ralph’s smiling eyes, infectious laugh and strong character helped make MCF-FRB the great place it was back in the early days.
