Joseph Ralph Renau

RENAU, Joseph Ralph, passed away on January 25, 2025. Funeral arrangements have been entrusted to the J. Henry Stuhr, Inc. West Ashley Chapel, 3360 Glenn McConnell Parkway, Charleston, SC 29414. His funeral service will be held Wednesday, January 29, 2025 in the First Love Baptist Church, 2631 Ashley River Road, Charleston, SC 29414 at 1:00 pm, and the family will receive friends beginning one hour prior. Burial will follow in Carolina Memorial Gardens.

Born on January 5, 1939, Ralph was the first and only son of Ruth Harley Renau and Joseph Lewith Renau.

During his youth and throughout high school, Ralph was a frequent presence on the playgrounds and in the fieldhouses of North Charleston, was a three-sport athlete-football, baseball, and basketball-and worked in various athletic programs at Cooper River Parks & Playgrounds. He graduated from Chicora High School, attended the University of South Carolina, and was a lifelong supporter of Gamecock athletics. 

Ralph served in the United States Marine Corps Reserve from 1956 to 1962.

Ralph worked in the trucking industry for 47 years, spending much of that time as a transportation agent, and was the owner/operator of his own company during the 1980s and 1990s. He was active in the Charleston Traffic Club and the Delta Nu Alpha transportation and logistics fraternity. 

As a youth and young adult, he attended Dorchester Waylyn Baptist Church. Ralph served as a deacon for many years at Wando Woods Baptist Church and touched countless lives through his service. He took special delight in coaching the WWBC women’s softball team, a role he held for 25 years. 

His wife, Betty Jo (Jolly) Renau, died in 2004.

Ralph is survived by his three sons, J.T., Rusty, and Steven; his sisters Sandra Weiss, Georgia Scott, and Kathy Ebner; and five grandchildren, James R. Renau, Joshua D. Balliet, April Lynn Renau, Rex Thomas Carroll, and Ruth Hannah Renau.

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