Ralph Hale

Ralph Edward Hale was born on September 12, 1929, south of Boaz to Norman Hale and Inez Hale. Ralph's parents separated when he was a youngster, and he was raised by his grandmother, Mell Rigsby. When he was 12, Ralph moved into downtown Boaz where Mrs. Rigsby managed the Dixie Hotel. After attending Boaz Grammar School and Boaz Middle School, Ralph entered Boaz High School in 1944 as a ninth-grader. He immediately began participating in athletics. He participated in football, basketball, and baseball. High school sports were sometimes scant during this time. Many of Ralph's classmates were serving in World War II, and it was hard to field a team. He played center and fullback on the BHS football team under Coach Tommy Gibbs and Hall of Fame Coach Cecil Wright. The 1946 Pirate team went 4-4-1, the best they had been in ten years. Ralph also played on the Boaz baseball team for a year, the only year they had enough to put a team on the field. Where Ralph excelled, though, was on the basketball court. Even though many of the players on the team were older returning war veterans, Ralph was still a starter. The 1946-47 Boaz team was one of its most successful of all time. The '47 team, coached by Cecil Wright, finished 22-4 and made it to the state tournament. In one particular game against Emma Sansom, Ralph outscored the entire Rebel team by himself because they were double-teaming former BHS principal Ollin Hayes. Ralph got hot, and the Pirates defeated the Rebels. A one-point loss to Murphy High School of Mobile ended the season for the Pirates in the state tournament. Ralph was selected the best male athlete by his fellow seniors in the BHS graduating class of 1948.

Just a year after Ralph graduated, basketball official Trellis Wright contacted Ralph about becoming an official himself. Back in those days, only one official called a game. The first game he called was down at Etowah, where the legendary Jim Glover was the coach. Coach Glover told Ralph that he would whip anybody who booed him. He got through that game, then spent the next two years officiating basketball. After serving in the armed forces, including a year-and-a-half in Germany, Ralph returned home and married Dora Reaves in 1954. Ralph continued to officiate basketball, and in the 1950s, the AHSAA mandated that two officials call a basketball game. The officials would call two games per night for a total of $5.00. Ralph was a charter member of the Northeast Alabama Basketball Officials Association. He called an estimated 1,500 basketball games in his 22-year officiating career and was one of the most-liked and respected officials in Marshall County. He became a football official in 1967 and called football for 12 years. Ralph was a bricklayer by trade, and in 1968, he became the masonry instructor at Marshall Technical School. He taught masonry for over 24 years until his retirement in 1991. During his tenure at the Tech School, Ralph taught one national champion bricklayer, a second place champion, and a third place champion. Since his retirement, Ralph has continued to lay brick and enjoys going to basketball games. He and Dora have lived in the same residence in Albertville since 1962. The Hales have two children, Mark and Debbie, and six grandchildren. They are active in their church, First Baptist of Albertville, where Ralph serves as a deacon and Sunday school teacher.