Ralph Riley Obenchain Jr.

Ralph Riley Obenchain Jr., 87, Woodstock, died Sunday, Nov. 30, 2014. 
He was born Aug. 5, 1927, to  Ralph and Mabel Obenchain.
He grew up in Evanston and was a member of the Evanston Township High School golf team and the YMCA Franklin Club.
In 1957, he married Elaine Higgins. They purchased the historic Gage House in Wilmette in 1966. The couple  moved to rural Woodstock in 1980.
He attended Northwestern University and worked for National Cash Register before embarking on a 60-year career as an investment adviser on LaSalle Street in Chicago.  He retired in 2008 at age 81.
He was a true renaissance man. He was an avid three-cushion billiard player and could catch monster muskies, fell massive elm and oak trees, lay cement, repair and refinish antique furniture and cane chairs. He had a broad knowledge of history and the arts, especially classical music, and was a founding member of the Mozart Society in Woodstock as well as the Paradise Point Pickerel Club. He was also a longtime member of the Masons.
Survivors include: his wife; five children, Ralph Riley Obenchain III, Woodstock, Edith (James) Obenchain, Woodstock, Samuel (Denise) Obenchain, Woodstock, Valerie McLeer, Woodstock, and Abigail (William Cole) Obenchain, Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario; eight grandchildren, Mason, Avery, Jax, Eli (known to his grandfather as Joe), Krista, Sammy, Milo and Skyler; and two sisters, Gloria O. Russell and Nancy Obenchain.
He was preceded in death by his parents.
Visitation and funeral were Dec. 6 at Schneider-Leucht-Merwin-Cooney Funeral Home, Woodstock.
Donations can be made to the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research.