Ralph Wright Ketner was an American businessman and philanthropist.
10 Facts About Ralph Ketner
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Ralph Ketner was the founder of Food Lion in 1957.
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Ralph Ketner grew up selling newspapers and almanacs, all while learning what he called "street smarts".
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In 1937, Ralph Ketner graduated from Boyden High School and went on to attend Tri-State College in Angola, Indiana, as an accounting major.
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Ralph Ketner excelled in his accounting and business law classes, but ran out of money and kept dropping out of a required public speaking course.
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Ralph Ketner's faith was important to him and he was a member of First Presbyterian Church of Salisbury for over 83 years.
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Ralph Ketner died at a hospice center in Salisbury, North Carolina, from complications of colon cancer, aged 95.
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In 1990, Ralph Ketner was inducted into the North Carolina Business Hall of Fame as a laureate.
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In 2012, Ketner received the Wilson L Smith Philanthropic Award from the Rowan Regional Medical Center Foundation.
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Ralph Ketner received the Ally Award from the LGBTQ advocacy group, Salisbury Pride, in 2015 and was a long time supporter of Alliance for Full Acceptance in Charleston, South Carolina.