Ralph A. Kirchner, Jr., retired Baltimore tugboat captain and World War II veteran, died March 13, 2011 at the age of 84 in the Hospice of Queen Anne's, in Centreville, MD.

Ralph was born in Baltimore on August 16, 1926 and was raised in Hamilton. He attended Baltimore Polytechnic Institute, but left high school before graduation to enlist in the Navy in 1943 at the age of 17. He served on the USS Hanover in the Pacific and was discharged from the navy in 1946.

After discharge from the navy, Ralph returned to Maryland, married the former Ruth Coleman (also from Baltimore) and the two settled in Anne Arundel County and raised 4 children (Debby Halperin of Ellicott City, Ralph A. Kirchner III of Queenstown, Eunice Thomas of Wachapreague, Virginia, and Janet McCabe of Florida.) Ruth and Ralph were married almost 58 years when Ruth died in 2006.

Ralph's father (Ralph A. Kirchner, Sr.) was also a Baltimore tugboat captain, and, in 1933 at the age of 7, Ralph accompanied his father to work on the tugboat "Point Breeze" (which was later renamed the Chester.) A storm came up the bay which was later named The Great Hurricane of 1933 (the storm that broke the inlet through Ocean City), and the Point Breeze, which was headed from Baltimore down the bay, was sunk in shallow water near the Seven Foot Knoll lighthouse. They were rescued and taken back to Baltimore by the Coast Guard. ( This story was written up in the Baltimore Sun at the time.)

Ralph worked on tugboats for Curtis Bay Towing Company and later for Baker & Whitely (later bought by MacAllister Towing.) He started work on a tugboat as a deckhand while still in high school, returned after the navy, worked his way up to captain and retired as a captain in 1984.


While a tugboat captain, Ralph moved the Constellation several times between its berth and places to receive maintenance and repair. Also, Ralph worked on a tug during the building of the first span of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge, pulling barges with construction materials to the workers building the bridge.

Ralph was descended from the Kirchner and Avery families in Anne Arundel County in Shadyside, where a museum (The Captain Salem Avery House) is now located in the Avery family homestead. Ralph was the great grandson of Salem Avery and the former Lucretia Weedon, and the grandson of their oldest child, Ella Avery Kirchner.

Ralph was a member of the Masonic Lodge in Glen Burnie.

Ralph is survived by his brother, Raymond Kirchner of Pasadena, MD; his sister, Adele Blum of Baltimore; his 4 children, 9 grandchildren and 6 great grandchildren.

The family will receive visitors at Barranco & Sons, P. A. Severna Park Funeral Home on Wednesday from 2 to 4 and 6 to 8pm. Funeral services will be held on Thursday at 10:30am at the funeral home. Interment will follow at Glen Haven Memorial Park. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Hospice of Queen Anne's, 255 Comet Drive, Centreville, MD 21617 or the hospice house of your choice. Online condolences may be made at www.barrancofuneralhome.com