Age 92, Lawton - Funeral services will be 10:00 a.m. Monday in the First Christian Church with Rev. Kim Hames, Pastor, officiating. Mr. Wertz died Wednesday in a Lawton care center. Burial will be in Highland Cemetery under the direction of the Becker Funeral Home & Cremation Service. He was born in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma on October 5, 1917 the son of Harold and Rae Wertz. He graduated from Lawton High School in 1935 and attended Cameron College in 1938 and 1939. He started driving a truck for his parents who had established a large fruit stand on the highway at 2nd and Ferris and contracted to haul butter from Fairmont Creamery, Lawton to Houston, Texas every week; then returning with a load of fruit and vegetables from the lower Rio Grande Valley of Texas for resale. His father was killed in a truck accident in 1937 and Ralph (age 19), his mother and four younger sisters continued the business until 1942 when the fruit stand was closed because of World War II. The draft board would not take Ralph until needed because of his family responsibilities, so he contracted his truck to Fisher Truck Lines of San Antonio, Texas and hauled war materials to Texas and Oklahoma military bases including Fort Sill. When the war ended he and Sam Braddy formed a partnership in 1946, built a warehouse in Lawton at 207 East D Avenue, and became a wholesale distributor of produce delivering to customers in Southwest Oklahoma and North Texas. Several months later Ralph bought out his partner and continued to operate and expand until 1983 when he retired and turned the business over to his sons, Jerry and Richard. During his active business life, he along with ten other men, formed Lawton Loan and Investment Corporation and he was elected president. He remained president until it was sold in April of 1983. He was also president of the Wertz Fruit Company, Inc. and president of Wertz Truck Lines, Inc. His civic activities included being president of the Lawton Junior Chamber of Commerce, a member of the Kiwanis Club and Lawton Chamber of Commerce. He served on the board of the Security Bank & Trust, the Salvation Army and the First Christian Church where he was a member of the Friends Sunday School Class. He married Virginia Zorger on June 2, 1949 in Lawton and she assisted him in business as head bookkeeper and accountant. She preceded him in death on March 27, 2006. Since his retirement he tended his investments including 360 acres of land within the city limits of east Lawton. He and his wife traveled extensively, mostly cruises, and spent time at their house on Lake Texoma. He is survived by a son and daughter in law, Jerry and Teresa Wertz, Lawton; a daughter and son in law, Peggy and Kevin Bressman, Apopka, Florida; two sisters, Mildred White, Naples, Florida, and Virginia Langfitt and husband Bill, Bullhead City, Arizona; six grandchildren and three great grandchildren. A son, Richard, and two sisters, Lucille Selzer and Dorothy Stillwell, preceded him in death. Memorial contributions may be made to the Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation.