Judge Ralph N. Smith

Ralph N. Smith was born on June 9, 1877 in Huron County, Ohio. He graduated from Ohio Northern University at Ada in 1894 and from Valparaiso University’s law program in 1896, the same year he married Olive McBride.

He was admitted to the bar in Illinois in 1896 and practiced in Morrison until March 1901, when he moved to LaPorte, Indiana. He served as prosecuting attorney in LaPorte from 1908 to 1913 and as county attorney of LaPorte County from 1923 to 1926. He was a member of the Democratic Party and politically active for much of his life. 

Judge Smith was elected as a Democrat to the Appellate Court of Indiana in 1932, and served from January 1, 1933 until his death. He suffered a sudden fatal heart attack at home in Indianapolis on October 31, 1935.

Judge Smith was a Mason, an Elk, and a member of the Kiwanis Club, the Sigma Delta Kappa legal fraternity, and the LaPorte, Indiana State, and American bar associations. He was a trustee of the LaPorte YMCA and a very active member of the First Methodist Episcopal Church in LaPorte. 

View the In Memoriam obituary for Judge Ralph N. Smith
2 pages | 96 kb