Lieutenant Commander US Navy
Ralph Joseph Zender
October 5, 1920 (Manning) - April 24, 2004 (Sacramento County, California)
Father: Joseph A. Zender 1884-1931
Mother: Ida May (Kusel) Zender 1885-1972
Siblings: Alexine Lake, Wayne, Leeroy
Wife: Lorraine Baker
Maternal grandparents: William & Sophia (Grube) Kusel - buried in Manning Cemetery
Paternal grandfather: Anton Zender
Ensign Ralph Zender
Ralph Zender Commissioned as an Ensign Corpus Christi, Texas - Ralph Joseph Zender, son of Mrs. Ida Zender, Carroll,
graduated from the Naval Air Training Center, Corpus Christi, and was commissioned an Ensign in the U.S. Naval Reserve.
Ensign Zender, volunteered for flight training last June 1942 and received preliminary flight instruction at the Oakland, California Naval Air Station.
Carroll Daily Times Herald, June 8, 1943
Age 78 in Sacramento, on October 24, 2001.
A native of Gadsden, Alabama, and a Sacramento resident for 38 years.
Beloved wife of Lieutenant Commander Ralph J. "Zip" Zender, USN (Retired).
Loving mother of Kathryn Zender Di Minno and Margaret Zender.
Beloved "Gramzee" of Lea and Allyana Wiviott.
Daughter of the late John Henry C. and Minnie Baker.
Sister of Ralph Baker and the late James & Clyde Baker,
Virginia Carr, Mary Franklin, and Geraldine Stancill.
Also surviving are a number of nieces & nephews.
Mrs. Zender served in the U.S. Navy Waves during WWII as a Chief Petty Officer at Pensacola, Florida. She was a member of the Sacramento EX Waves, the Association Officers Wives Club and Women in Military Service for America Memorial Foundation. Honoring Mrs. Zenders' wishes there will be no funeral services.
The Neptune Society of Northern California will be in charge of cremation & scattering at sea.
Memorials may be made to the American Lung Assoc. of Sacramento -Emigrant Trails, 909 12th St., Sac., CA 95814 or to the American Cancer Society, P.O. Box 160586, Sacramento, CA 95816-0586.