Ralph James Hulbert

Nov 18, 1948 -

Mar 29, 2026

Ralph's first adventure as an infant was a plane ride from his grandparents' home in Seattle to the Lost Chicken Hill Gold Mine. He was the second of four kids born to mining engineer Jim Hulbert and teacher Frances Byrne. In 1952, the Hulberts left Chicken and returned to where Jim and Fran first met: Palmer, Ralph's hometown forever after.

Ralph spent his youth active in clubs with his siblings, dodging moose in North Palmer, rambling around the Butte, prospecting with his dad, camping and traveling with Joe Lentz's troop of Explorer Scouts and – once! – running up Pioneer Peak and sliding straight back down the north face. His teachers skipped him ahead a grade to keep him busy, and he graduated from Palmer High in 1966.

After a degree in chemistry from Oregon State in 1970, Ralph joined the Peace Corps and taught science in Kenya. He survived malaria, dysentery, swimming with crocodiles and driving a tiny Morris that broke down among lions. He peregrinated through Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, and southeast Asia, making friends and seeking wisdom from elders. When a temple-sweeper in India asked, "Young man – why would you leave the religion of your father?" Ralph turned his quest homeward.

Ralph worked for MTA, then for AREA Real Estate where he met his wife Helen. He did energy research, worked cleanup on the Exxon spill, got his environmental engineer license in Alaska and worked for local firms before starting his own company, AlaskChem Engineering. His work took him all over Alaska cleaning up hazardous spills and dubious rusty tanks, navigating bureaucratic regulations with a stubborn insistence on good science and pragmatic solutions.

Ralph and his lifelong friends, the "Royal Raccoons," met every week to play cribbage, philosophize, and occasionally brainstorm projects. Their desire to save the old Co-Op buildings to make a cultural center led to Ralph and friends instigating the Palmer Historical Society in 1986. He spearheaded restoration of the water tower, and climbed to the top to replace the red ball finial. For a 1978 production of "Our Town" directed by Joe Lawton, Ralph and Leif Kopperud tracked down the town's missing Co-Op whistle for a uniquely authentic sound effect prop. We hear it today as a steady reminder of our childhoods in Palmer.

In 1978, he bought land on a pond and began building, designing the house himself from foundation to cabinetry. Ralph married Helen Hartley in 1983, and they had two kids. He loved his family and took good care of them with reliable calm, humor and ingenuity. He enjoyed smoking salmon, canoeing, lake golf, gatherings with the neighbors and rarely passed up an opportunity to challenge thinking and encourage unexpected connections.

Ralph's curiosity found endless layers of interest in the landscape of home. He turned family hikes into historical expeditions following outdated maps, investigated peat bogs, asked old-timers obscure questions, logged rare bird sightings, bet with the Raccoons on the date of green leaves each spring and surveyed salmon populations in changeable Matanuska sidestreams. He called Palmer Slough the northernmost point of the Pacific Ocean, and calculated we live at the Lunar Arctic Circle.

Ralph had a mind like no other, which hid his slipping memory until a bout of COVID-19 in 2022 accelerated the damage enough to make it plain. Still, nothing stopped him from enjoying long walks, tinkering around the house and cribbage nights with loyal friends Jack Snodgrass, Bill Estelle, Chuck Logsdon, Joe, Leif and others.

Ralph spent his last year in the Palmer Pioneer Home. The efforts of his entire family and many friends earned him a good end of the trail there, after a long battle with frontotemporal dementia and a short one with cancer. His last days were spent surrounded by family, friends and caring AVPH staff. He never stopped teaching life lessons to those around him. His last gift was a spark of awareness that broke through in time to say goodbye to his family.

Ralph is survived by his wife, Helen; daughter, Ruth of Palmer; son, Garth of Fairbanks; siblings and their spouses, Kathy and Tommy Davis in Maryland, Paul Hulbert of Big Lake, Janet Hulbert and Kevin Waring in Arizona; in-laws, Kirk and Toni Hartley of Finger Lake and Roberta and Alvin Swick of Seldovia; and many beloved nieces, nephews and their kids who all made his days brighter and will carry his stories and lessons forward.

He was laid to rest in Palmer Cemetery. A memorial will be held at the Palmer Depot at 2 p.m., on Sunday, May 31, 2026.