A funeral mass for Father Ralph Ransom Jr., S.S.J, was offered June 12 at St. Joseph Manor, Baltimore. Father Ransom, who was 76, spent most of his priestly life in southeast Texas, but began it as associate pastor of St. Peter Claver in Baltimore. He died June 7 at St. Joseph Manor.
Born into a U.S. Navy family stationed in Manila, Philippine Islands, Father Ransom attended public schools in Annapolis, Arlington, Va., and San Antonio, where he attended Central Catholic High. He became a permanent member of the Josephites in 1960, and was ordained a priest in 1961, serving as an associate pastor in Washington, D.C., Louisiana and Texas.
Father Ransom helped form “Building a Better World,” an organization that sought to improve the lives of the poor in San Antonio and throughout the world. Father Ransom wrote several books and pamphlets, which he donated to missions at prisons and hospitals.
In 1980, he began to care for his aging mother in San Antonio, and heart problems forced him to retire in 1993.