Where I Stand — Mike O’Callaghan: Helper of needy is gone

Tuesday, Dec. 3, 2002 | 8:20 a.m.

RALPH ENGELSTAD'S funeral today will bring to an end a life that can't be seen through the eyes of any single individual. I have my own recollections of Ralph as a man with an exterior hard as the ice on which he played hockey in North Dakota. He was the same man who provided free hockey game tickets for the wives and kids at Nellis Air Force Base when their husbands and fathers flew combat in Vietnam. Yes, Ralph brought professional hockey to Las Vegas. He also helped put on a Christmas party for the Nellis kids while they waited for their fathers to come home from the Hanoi Hilton prison camp or flying combat.

Ralph promoted the hiring of handicapped workers by bringing many of them into his business. Ed Crispell, his trusted manager of the Imperial Palace, has always been the first person to step forward and offer Ralph's business and community support for people less fortunate. The elderly, downtrodden and needy have all benefited from this largess.

Hundreds, if not thousands of orphans and poor people in Nicaragua have been helped by Ralph and his friend Bill Bennett, who owns the Sahara. Both men have succeeded in business because of sharp minds and honest work. Over a period of several years, the Nicaraguan youngsters in the Padre Fabretto orphanages and surrounding neighborhoods have had the help of these men.

Then, in 1998, along came devastating Hurricane Mitch and the Nicaraguans, especially the poor and orphans, were in dire straits. Both men were willing to fly goods into that area but landing strips were destroyed and there was no additional room at any nearby airports. They added large sums of money to what had been gathered from church members and other Las Vegans. This provided money for rice, beans, corn, sugar, cooking oil and dry soup mixtures. Also it helped, in a small way, to rebuild some houses. After meeting with orphanage director Kevin Marinacci and his father, visiting from Chicago, the checks from Nevada were deposited and food was purchased. Enabling them to reach as many people as possible, checks were given to Salvador Talavera of Cooperative 3-80 from almost destroyed Quilali; a combined religious and community organization called COPROS A; the Moravian Church serving the Miskito Indians and Catholic Bishop Juan Abelardo Mata who was the disaster coordinator.! Then came the long drive with supplies to the orphanages in the north.

The Padre Fabretto orphanages not only care for and educate youngsters without parents, they also feed the poor in surrounding neighborhoods. The one meal a day is the only one eaten by many of these children. Thanks to a couple of Las Vegans, none of them went hungry when Hurricane Mitch destroyed the economy and infrastructure of their country.

I hadn't seen Ralph during the past several months but heard he wasn't feeling well. It's hard to imagine that this tough guy isn't with us anymore. Reading different accounts of Ralph's life could make a reader think that he was several different people. I have chosen to view his life in Nevada through the eyes of the elderly, handicapped, orphaned and those left behind while their breadwinner fights a war. He never got so comfortable with his wealth and surroundings that he forgot those who are less fortunate.