Ralph Bodie was born in Beatrice, NE, and lived in Burchard, NE, until moving to the family  ranch near Liberty when Ralph was 5 years old. He and his brother Scott helped their dad by tending the livestock and the seedlings in the shelterbelt while their mother worked as a registered nurse.
The two boys enjoyed a great amount of freedom and adventure while growing up on the ranch. They also learned about economics, business, and self-driven motivation. By the time Ralph was 10, he was involved in just about every aspect of the cattle business, from building fences to branding to selling the livestock. Ralph and Scott bought a couple of cows and built their herd to 30 in seven years. They also built a cabin from lumber and bricks they salvaged from old farm sites in the area.
Ranch life came with high expectations and hard work, but their dad always expressed appreciation for his sons’ accomplishments. He served as a role model for creativity channeled into daily life. When Ralph told his father that he wanted to major in art, he was encouraged to learn a trade that would allow him to express his artistic talent through his work.
After graduation from high school in 1967, Ralph majored in industrial arts at Peru State College with a minor in busine ss. In 1969, he married, and the couple moved to Tallahassee, FL, so that his wife could attend graduate school. During the Vietnam conflict, Ralph joined the Navy and entered air traffic control school. In 1971, he earned his private pilot’s license.
Ralph was stationed at Roosevelt Roads, Puerto Rico, and built flight time transporting people throughout Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. He eventually completed his commercial pilot’s license. After being released from active duty, Ralph was hired by the Federal Aviation Administration as an air traffic controller.
While living in Puerto Rico, Ralph and his wife became the parents of Brook and Aaron. Paige was born after the family moved to the Florida Keys in the 1980s. He completed his aviation career in 2002 at the Tamiami Airport in Miami, FL, and returned to Nebraska.
Ralph heeded his father’s advice to find a trade that would allow him to express his creativit y when he opened a cabinet business in Miami. He continued that line of work at the farm he purchased near Liberty, NE, where he built a shop and renewed a broken-down farm into grassland. In June of 2007, Ralph also established a sawmill with Fran White.
As a cabinet maker, Ralph Bodie enjoys the challenges of architecture, space, and design. As a father and grandfather, he relishes time with family. As a businessman, he achieves success by applying the valuable lessons he learned from his father. As a Nebraskan, he honors the hard work, dedication, and courage of the pioneers who settled the prairie. And as an American, he takes great pride in the sacrifice, vision, and principles on which this great nation was founded.
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