Happy Birthday, Ralph Bull

May 13, 2025 [Updated May 15, 2025]

Today we are celebrating the 75th birthday of Ralph Bull -- one of my longest running friendships, and one of the great guys featured in the book "Beltsville Shell : You Are What You Drive"

Ralph appears prominently in Beltsville Shell, and chapter 37 is devoted solely to him.  Please see below!

A few friends have offered birthday greetings to Ralph.

Jim Noll

There are a lot of good times that come to mind based on being friends with Ralph, and they are always good ones. 

But one always sticks in my mind. Back in the late 60s, Ralph bought that Honda ATC90, the poo poo trike. Ralph and the Shell guys would ride it all over the field there. That thing would bounce all over the place with those balloon tires. If I remember correctly, Ralph would lose control, and end up on the ground. Lots of fun. 

 Well happy 75th birthday to you Ralph, Jim

Phil Marcus

Ralph, Sonny, and I would go DC to a record store when new albums came out and would get lunch while we were there. It was a great day just hanging out with Beltsville guys. We would enjoy watching old horror movies sometimes with our good friend Boone's farm at Sonny’s house. 

 

Those were great times in good old Beltsville. Ralph was always up on the latest music and stuff. It’s a great way to enjoy the weekend back then. Happy 75th!  Phil

Nace DeLauter

I remember his black 57 Chevy. I remember his dad helping him with his car. I remember him as a Woodstock Peacenic. He was a unique person and bit more gas saving van guy than gas guzzling hot rod guy.  Happy Birthday!  Nace

Gary Manley

Here are a few of my memories of Ralph:

Ralph was one of the "regulars" at the speed shop on Route 1 in College Park -- Pete La Barbara's "Rod Shop".  Ralph and Pete were very close friends. Here is a photo of Ralph coming out of the Rod Shop dressed for the wedding of Roy Young and Marty Rummel at the Old Mill in Adelphi, Maryland in 1974.

 

Ralph was one of 5 guys who attended the 1972 National Street Rod Association -- the Detroit Nationals in 1972.  The photo below was in our hotel room in Dearborn. We had a ball on that trip! There was always something to laugh at!

Left to Right: Bob Rice, Mike Jarvis (who Ralph rode up with in Mikes Corvette), Ralph Bull, Myself Gary Manley, Steve Reed and Steve Bragonier behind the camera.

Ralph contributed more than his share of zany moments. “Well yeh” is my favorite "Ralphism".

A story I heard from unreliable sources, everyone back then was unreliable. 1970s Rod Shop. Ralph sent the Jehovah's Witnesses to the shop to SAVE Pete.

Pete came up with a great way to get even.  For a year, Pete saved up all the JW information request mailers that were in magazines at that time. Then Pete sent them all in using Ralph’s address at one time. I’m sure Ralph was perplexed as to whether to “Join a few good men” or be an artist. I understand that Ralph got a call from the Beltsville Postmaster to come up and pick up all his mail (speculation hundreds and hundreds of pieces of junk mail) and threaten to discontinue home delivery.  

Ralph came out to visit me at our home in Gore, Virginia a year ago (August of 2024)  here is a photo from that trip.

Ralph, happy 75! You have always brought laughter into my life! For that I will be forever grateful!  Gary

Allen Peterson

A RECOLLECTION COMMEMORATING DAYS OF YORE ON THE OCCASION OF HIS 75TH BIRTHDAY AS RECOUNTED BY ALLEN PETERSON

Fifty-five years (+/-, but at our age who is counting?) have passed and I still remember Ralph in two quite different personas. In one persona, I remember Ralph as a lovable, huggable (not that I ever thought to do so!) teddy bear – mild-mannered, laid-back, unflappable, never to anger, and always ready to lend a hand to one in need.

However, through the lens of altered perception (in those times, a too frequent indulgence of mind, body and spirit!), Ralph could be viewed as a knuckle-dragging, hairy, slothful caveman, yet still possessing all of the qualities one would expect to have in a friend.

Two of my experiences with Ralph are indelibly etched in my memory. On one occasion, a larger than usual crowd (males, but not yet men!) had drifted into Beltsville Shell (BS) at closing time (10pm), a not unusual occurrence in those days, to “drink a few”, brag about muscle cars, and to swap lies about their conquests of the opposite sex. Upon termination of the nightly frivolity, and after everyone had left, the night crew would clean up the mess left behind by the chest-beating, testosterone-charged Beltsville beasties. Of particular note, I never knew if Bris ever became aware of these after-hours gatherings of Beltsville’s finest! On this particular night Ralph and I had worked the evening shift, and we uncharacteristically failed to clean up after an uncharacteristically and extended evening of frivolity, boozing and bullshitting. When Bris arrived at BS the next morning, the office, the shop and the machine room were littered (probably at least two inches thick), layered and strewn with empty cans and bottles of every popular, unpopular, domestic, and imported brand of beer (and maybe a Boone’s Farm or two) then available within a ten-mile radius of Beltsville. The story continues!!!

I was PAINFULLY hungover the next morning (instead of in class!) when I was awakened by the sounds of 175 mm mortar rounds assaulting my apartment door. Fearing that the Viet Nam “conflict” had escalated into World War III, I literally crawled to my front door, took the chance to stand up and hesitantly opened it, painfully elevated my eyelids (never knew that eye muscles could ache!) and was met with the visage (way too early in the day for that image!) and fists (still in motion) of the above referenced teddy bear! Whew, no war on U.S. soil, no broken door, just Ralph there to inform me that Bris’ anger and ire could not be described with any words in any English language dictionary, AND that, “oh, by the way”, we were fired!! Later that afternoon, Ralph called to inform me that Bris’ anger had subsided and that he and I were again gainfully employed at BS and to report for the 5pm shift that afternoon.

Another memorable event occurred in the summer of ’67 or ’68. Ralph had purchased a three-wheeled ATV with bulbous, spongy, low-inflation tires. His dilemma?? He did not purchase a truck or trailer to haul the ATV to the local gravel pit! No problem, Albie to the rescue! At the time, I owned a non-muscle car Buick Skylark convertible. Ralph and I decided that I would back up the ragtop to a small knoll and put the top down. We then proceeded to push the ATV backwards off the knoll then across the trunk of the car until its rear wheels settled into the back seat of the car. VOILA!! We drove off to the gravel pit and spent the day ATV-ing. We did not need no stinkin’ truck or trailer!

HAPPY 75TH, RALPH!!!   Allen

Cary Thomas

I fondly remember days and nights around the Shell Station with Ralph.  Quietly intelligent, but equally mischievous, Ralph had no relationships other than friendships. A student of drag racing, he knew the legends of the sport, went to many national events, and kept pace with the developing technologies for our cars.  Ralph was, and is to this day, an accomplished photographer -- if you look at his Facebook postings you will find ample testimony to his keen, artistic eye and photographic gems.  He is still a big fan of cars, and, also on Facebook, you will find his postings of unique, quirky, classic automobiles.

When I started writing Beltsville Shell, Ralph was a great source of information, anecdotes, history, and photographs. Ralph, I thank you for all your contributions!

Ralph attended the second Beltsville Shell Reunion in March, 2003. 

Left to Right: Cary, Ralph, Sonny, John, Nace, Peggy, Bonnie, Tom, and Wayne!  Ralph also joined us for Reunion #8 in October 2009.

Below is the text from Ralph's chapter in the book.

Happy Birthday, Ralph.  All of your friends send blessings and best wishes today, and always.  Cary

37 Ralph

“Peace!”

Ralph Bull, August, 1969

 

Ralph was the only son of Ward and Emma Bull. His parents were older than the typical baby boomer parents. Possibly because of his mature outlook on life, Ralph’s Dad was completely different from every other Dad in Beltsville. Ward Bull actually promoted Ralph’s interest in cars and drag racing!

Ward encouraged Ralph to purchase a black ’57 Chevy, and what an absolute beauty it was. Until Ralph got into the swing of the JTRAMFGS crowd, Ward would visit Beltsville Shell recommending modifications to the car to make it faster. As father and son they would plan for and attend NHRA drag racing events. What a Dad! Do you suppose Ralph was putting something in his Dad’s vitamins? At any rate, Ralph had parental support for the hobbies of car worship and professional drag racing.

 

Ralph branched into other areas of interest with equal dedication. He was the first guy in Beltsville to buy a Honda ATV (all terrain vehicle). Ralph could drive it better than any of us, especially in the slalom course we created in the graveyard next to the St. John’s Church on the corner of Route 1 and Powdermill Road. Despite his mischievousness, Ralph managed to stay out of trouble (except for the time Bris fired him and Albie for a few hours).

Woodstock

Ralph had a more worldly view than the typical provincial Beltsville brat, and was almost as up-to-date on world events as Tanguay. But I have to give Ralph the prize for being the first person in Beltsville to recognize the arrival of the “Peace and Love Generation”.

Ralph was part of a Beltsville delegation that went to some goofy, up-state New York thing called “Woodstock” from August 15^th to 17^th, 1969. Linda and Ray Baer, Sonny Boteler and his younger brother Frank, Nace DeLauter, Bonnie Reed, Peewee Thompson, and Woody Marcus, joined Ralph. How could I have known this would be a history-making event?

I remember Ralph stopping by the Shell station after Woodstock to give me a full report. He had grown a mustache, his hair was getting long, his jeans looked ragged, and his ’57 Chevy was unwashed. When Ralph stepped out of his car, he raised his right hand to shoulder height, made a “V” with his index and middle fingers and said, “Peace”!

“Peace?” I replied.

“Yeah, like, Peace, baby.” Ralph said smiling.

He then erupted into this animated, hour-long dialogue about the Peace movement, free love, love beads, harmony in the universe, doing your own thing, and the acid-rock music. He told us about the three days of music, mud, 500,000 people all living in a spirit of love and understanding, and the open sex. Peewee confirmed everything, unable to contain his excitement for this new religion, especially the sex. Oh yeah, and drugs.

I asked if the Beach Boys were there. At first Ralph just stared at me. Then he gave me a list of names of singing groups I had never heard of. Strange names and strange looking people.

I was completely confused, but Ralph had seen the vision of the future and understood perfectly what was coming.

In a very short time everything I worshiped became irrelevant, replaced by a whole new series of thoughts, interests and beliefs.

Muscle cars were out and VW vans were in, especially if they had psychedelic flowers painted on them. Who in their right mind would paint a daisy on a Corvette? Powerful cars fell into disrepute because they were gas-guzzlers and were polluting our environment. Girls were attracted to a guy with a van, preferably with a mattress in the back and curtains on the windows.

Jan and Dean were replaced by the Grateful Dead. There was a group named the “Who” – I would have probably named them the “What?”! Everybody was growing facial hair and no one got a haircut at a barbershop any more. Your hair was supposed to be long – the longer the better -- and only a girl could give your long hair a trim.

 Cary Thomas, May 13, 2025