Earl Lee Ratliff

Earl Lee Ratliff passed away June 4, 2020. He was born April 18, 1955, in Walla Walla, Washington, to Mel and Rene (Craigen) Ratliff. He grew up in Weston, Oregon, and graduated in 1973. He loved and played many sports, especially basketball. After graduating he worked various job in construction and eventually ended up in Fairbanks, Alaska, working for the state of Alaska as the head of bridge maintenance. He traveled all over the state for work, had many adventures, and made lifelong friends. He loved Alaska's hunting, fishing and four-wheeling and spent countless hours doing it all. Earl married Kathy Moore in 1981. He retired in 2015 and did a lot of traveling and four-wheeling. Earl moved with Kathy to Colorado in 2019 to be closer to family and loved spending time with his grandchildren. He is survived by his wife, Kathy; two sisters, Patti Butterfield and Twila (Neil) Sweet; a son, Kyle (Jeannette) Ratliff; a daughter, Tonda Lawrence; two step-daughters, Sheri (Chad) Kilburg and Victoria (Heath) Walker; best friend and cousin, Ed Kraft; and six grandchildren, Destiny, Kaden, Spence, Ryln, Ardalia and Aria. He was preceded in death by both his parents. A gathering will be held in the Blue Mountains in Oregon to celebrate his life on July 25. He was a great papa and he will be greatly missed by his family and friends.