Ralph W. Honaker, 91, of Huntington, died Thurs., Sept. 20, 2012. One of 13 children born to Samuel Hayes and Mary Lillian (Ellison) Honaker, he lived all his life in Huntington and was prominent in local, state and national veterans and family activities. A 1939 graduate of Barboursville High School, he was a brakeman and later a conductor for the Chesapeake & Ohio Railroad in Huntington, retiring after 42 years of service. He enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve, Huntington, in 1949, deploying to Korea from 1950 to 1951, where he served at Camp Mason, South Korea, and at Wonson, North Korea, as a guard on military depot railroad trains supplying U.S. troops. He was awarded the Korean Service Medal, Korean War Medal, National Defense Service Medal, U.N. Medal and Presidential Unit Citation. He became a member of VFW Post 1064, Huntington, in 1951, where he served as junior vice commander, senior vice commander, and post commander; then became district commander, state junior commander and state senior commander. He was a VFW national council member representing West Virginia, Virginia and Kentucky; and was chairman of the VFW southern conference of 14 states. He served on VFW national committees including Voice of Democracy, Americanism, Legislative Affairs, National Security, and POW/MIA. He was a member of American Legion Post 16, Disabled American Veterans, 1st Marine Division Association, Chosin Few (Korean War veterans who served above the 38th parallel,) and BPOE Lodge 313, all of Huntington. In 1951 he founded Huntington Det. 340, U.S. Marine Corps League, starting with ten members and building it to more than 200, largest in the state. He served as detachment commandant and later state commandant. He founded and chaired the Veterans Committee for Civic Improvement in the Council of Veterans Organizations, Huntington. The committee raised more than $14,000 to erect a statue and 63 flags at Veterans Memorial Boulevard, which were unveiled by then-Gov. Jay Rockefeller. The committee also restored Memorial Arch at Ritter Park. He served on a committee to bring a military museum to Huntington, emplaced at Memorial Field House. He was the 2007 Huntington VA Hospital Volunteer of the Year, selected from more than 400 serving the hospital; he gave more than 4,000 hours in a lifetime of volunteering at the hospital. In 1960 he began the groundwork for the National Association of Hans Jacob Honaker Families, which had its organizational meeting in 1989, and which today has more than 300 members in the U.S., Canada, and Europe. He was the association’s first president, for eight years, and at the time of his death was president emeritus. He oversaw publication of a 1,437-page family history published by Gateway Press in 1998; a quarterly family newsletter, annual reunions, family memorial and gravestone erection, and other activities. He was honored by the West Virginia Division of Culture and History at its annual History Day program. His was a singularly impressive life, leading others to achievement with a quiet and diplomatic demeanor. He was a member of the Fifth Avenue Baptist Church. He married Dolly Marie McCoy in 1940; she preceded him in death in 2002 after 61 years together. He was also preceded by daughters Judith Kaye Honaker and Rebecca Susan Lawson; and by ten brothers and sisters. He is survived by daughter Dolly Ann Jeffers and husband Andrew of Bay City, Mich.; twin brother Raymond H. Honaker of Holliday, Fla.; and sister Justine E. Wilson of Thonotosassa, Fla. Survivors also include grandsons Andrew Warren Jeffers and Zachary Rand Lawson; three great-grandchildren Britney Nichole Marie Jeffers, Alyssa Taylor Ann Jeffers and Jayson Andrew Jeffers; and several nieces and nephews. Funeral service will be conducted 12:00 PM Saturday September 22, 2012 at Chapman’s Mortuary Huntington with Rev. Hubert Harvey officiating. Burial will be in Ridgelawn Memorial Park. Friends may call At Chapman’s Mortuary from 6:00 until 8:00 PM Friday September 21, 2012.