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Weapons
Military and Veterans ➔ Mortar
Identifier:
123482Date:
1939 – 1945Current Location Status:
In StorageCollection Tier:
Tier 2Source:
Gift Of Ralph DemmonRelated Entity:
Ralph Demmon (donor)Ralph Demmon was born February 17, 1894 in Grand Rapids, Michigan. He was the second son of the five children of Elwood Frank Demmon and Blanche Demmon. HIs father was a school teacher at Union High in Grand Rapids for 33 years. Ralph attended Central High School in Grand Rapids and Michigan Agricultural College (Michigan State University) for two years before enlisting in the Air Corps in 1918 during WWI. Ralph earned his bachelor's degree in architecture from University of Michigan in 1923. He went to work in the office of State Architect, Lynn W. Fry in 1923 and stayed until 1924 when he started working as a draftsman for architects Osgood and Osgood of Grand Rapids. In 1926 Demmon designed the granite Memorial Pillars that still stand in Veteran's Memorial Park located on Fulton Street in Downtown, Grand Rapids. In 1931-1932 he was a designer for Hermann Lamps. From 1938 until his retirement in 1963, Demmon worked as an independent architect primarily designing and remodeling private homes. Much of his work was done for clients in East Grand Rapids, Forest Hills, Cascade and other upper middle income areas of the Grand Rapids metro area. Early in his career, Demmon also worked as an independant furniture designer for several area companies. He retired in 1963 and moved to Florida where he designed and made jewelry. He made the jewelry to sell to friends and at art sales and shows in Florida. The jewelry pieces that remained in his collection were inherited by his daughters, Gloria Gregory and Dianne Demmon Boozer. They donated some of the jewelry pieces to the Museum along with various archival materials related to Demmon's work as an architect, furniture and jewelry designer.