Ralph Humke Hofmeister

Ralph Humke Hofmeister, age 91, died February 26, 2025, at Keswick Multi-care Center in Baltimore, MD. Ralph was an avid reader, who could explain the salient points of texts from fields as wide-ranging as philosophy, religion, economics, and engineering. He was a conservationist and believed in saving anything that he deemed still had useful life, with the intent of repairing or repurposing it. He joined the Society of Friends as an adult and embraced the Quakers’ core beliefs of simplicity, peace, integrity, community, equality, and stewardship. His friends and family also remember him for his love of the outdoors, and times spent hiking, camping, canoeing, sailing, or cross-country skiing together.

Born September 13, 1933 in Quincy, IL, Ralph was the eldest son of Ralph O. and Ruth M. Hofmeister.  He graduated from Palmyra High School in Palmyra, MO, in 1951; his senior class voted that the “Perfect Boy” would have Ralph’s brains. Ralph enrolled at LeTourneau College (now University) and later Northwestern University, where he graduated Phi Beta Kappa with a B.S. in Philosophy in 1954. At Northwestern, he met his first wife, Janet (Obetz), and they were married in 1954. He then pursued graduate studies, initially at Princeton Theological Seminary and later at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he earned a PhD in Economics in 1963.

Ralph and Janet shared a life centered on supporting Ralph’s career and building a family; they had four children together. Ralph held a position on the faculty in the Economics Department at the University of Minnesota; during that time, he spent two years at the Universidad de los Andes in Bogotá, Colombia, as part of a joint program between the U of MN and USAID to start an Economics program there. In 1967-68, he had a sabbatical at the Brookings Institution in Washington, D.C. He later moved to the World Bank in Washington, D.C., where he was a developmental economist focused primarily in Southern Asia.

Ralph met his second wife, Elizabeth (Walpole), at the Bethesda Friends Meeting and they were married in 1984. They were devoted members of the meeting and after retiring, Ralph served on the board of Camp Shiloh, a Quaker camp in Northern VA.  After Liz retired, they enjoyed trips to Costa Rica, the Galapagos, the Antarctic, Easter Island, and China. Ralph and Liz hosted travelers and students from other countries at their home and established long-lasting relationships with several of them. They enjoyed Ralph’s children and grandchildren, and were proud of their accomplishments. Even at the very end of his life, Ralph was asking for updates about his grandchildren.

In addition to his wife, Ralph is survived by his children, Kathryn Watt (Robert Sprague), Christine (Edward Lotto), Gretchen (David Alberg), and Tad (Misa Sugiura); grandchildren Christopher and Sarah Watt, William Lotto, Samuel and Eleanor Alberg, and Tai and Kenzo Hofmeister; brothers Robert (Phyllis) and William (Norma), and many nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by his parents and his sister and brother-in-law, Jeanne and Gordon Gale.

A Memorial Service will be held at Bethesda Friends Meeting, 7400 Beverly Rd, Bethesda, MD 20814, at 11 AM on Saturday August 16, 2025.  

In lieu of flowers, donations to Quaker institutions or Trees for the Future, https://trees.org/, are suggested.