Commandery of St. Francis
Knights Hospitaller OSJ
Ralph N. Cole, CGSJ
1924 - 2022
Ralph attended the Punahou School, Oahu, and graduated in the 100th anniversary class in 1941. Shortly thereafter, the family moved back to California and settled in San Jose, California, six months prior to the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Ralph had been accepted to Harvard University, but when his family moved back to California, he chose instead to enroll at Occidental College in Eagle Rock, California, a suburb of Los Angeles. There he met Susan Jeanette Ragan, also an entering freshman at Occidental. They were engaged the next year, but Ralph enlisted in the Army in 1943. He was a member of the 89th Infantry division ("the Rolling W") part of Patton's 3rd Army, and served in World War II in France and Germany. His duties were as an artillery forward observer and shell hole reporter, very dangerous work, and saw heavy fighting, including the liberation of the first concentration camp discovered by the Allies. After his discharge in 1946, Ralph married Susan, moved to Palo Alto, and enrolled in Stanford University, where he earned both a BA in Economics in 1948 (graduated Phi Beta Kappa) and an MBA in 1950, and completed training from the Coro Foundation. While at Stanford, Ralph continued his service to his country by joining the Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) and received his commission as a Second Lieutenant in the Army Reserves.He served for over 30 years including with the Civil Affairs unit based in Mountain View, California, and through dedication and meritorious service, he rose to the rank of Colonel and accomplished his last duty in the Army as Chief of Staff of the 351st MUSARC. He was awarded twelve medals including the Legion of Merit, the Meritorious Service Medal, and the Army Commendation Medal. Ralph is also a graduate of the National War College Defense Strategy, the Command and General Staff College, the Army War College. Ralph had a very long and full life and was loved by all who knew him. He is survived by his children Alan Cole (Kathy) of Los Gatos, Alice Jurian (Michael) of Prescott Arizona, Randall Cole (Lisa) of Twain Harte, and Charles Cole (Barbara) of Petaluma, in addition to 11 grandchildren and 9 great grandchildren. He is predeceased by his wife of 66 years, Susan Ragan Cole,.
John H. Roush Jr., CGSJ
1923 - 2021
Colonel John H. Roush Jr., US Army (ret.) who died in January aged 98, was a founding
member of the Commandery of St. Francis, together with a small group of retired Army
officers, when it was established in 1991 as a unit of the historic Order of St John,
Knights Hospitaller. The Commandery’s aim was - as it remains - to provide charitable
support for injured service veterans in the San Francisco Bay Area.
John completed Army basic training in 1943, returning afterward to college for a year in
the Army’s Specialized Training Program before assignment to an infantry division in
France in 1944 where he was commissioned. He took part in the Ardennes campaign of
December 1944, famed as the ‘Battle of The Bulge’. John’s division was one of the US
Army’s forces that blunted, then defeated, the German surprise assault launched in mid-
December. He fought on with his division into 1945, to the ultimate victory in Germany.
His subsequent Army career included assignments in Austria, at NATO, and
at the Army War College.
John was a lifelong avid big game hunter and sport fisherman. His hunting exploits in
retirement took him around the USA and across the world, during the course of which he
set numerous records and established many friends. He was a prolific author, writing ten
books on subjects ranging from hunting to military matters. These included ‘World War
II Reminiscences’, an anthology of the memoirs of eighty Marin County World War II
veterans which led him to mentor several other budding authors through the Outdoor
Writers Association.
He received many awards and decorations from the US Army, the California National
Guard, and eight allied nations. He held a Ph.D.; was a Fellow of the Explorers’ Club;
and was inducted into the Infantry Officers Candidate School (OCS) Hall of Fame in
Fort Benning, Georgia. He received the Lifetime Achievement Award, as well as the
President’s Plaque, from the Reserve Officers’ Association of America. John married
Virginia Ellard Beans, who pre-deceased him. They are survived by two sons and their
offspring.
Colonel John Roush was a Commander of Grace in the Order of St. John, Knights
Hospitaller, an organization he supported proudly until his passing.
Thérèse Le Gallo, DSJ
July 12, 1965 - May 26, 2019
Thérèse Le Gallo, 53, former CIA Operations Officer and Senior Intelligence
Consultant, died peacefully at her home in Northern California after a
courageous battle with breast cancer. She is survived by her devoted husband
of 14 years Craig Fair, daughter Brittany Tholan, son Preston Tholan, sister Elise
Le Gallo, mother Cathy Le Gallo of Woodland, CA, and mother and father in law
Carol and David Fair of Lititz, PA. She is pre-deceased by her brother
Christopher Le Gallo (2002) and father Chevalier André Le Gallo (2017).
Thérèse will be remembered for her outgoing personality, dedication to family,
perseverance and joie de vivre. She enjoyed a very fulflling life of travel,
adventure, life long friendships, marriage, raising two amazing children, and over
a twenty year career in the Federal Government working as a CIA operations
officer. Throughout her unique life experience, Thérèse was reminded often of
how precious life is. She had a tremendous sense of being present and making
the most of her time with people and places, and recognizing the beauty in
nature.
The daughter of former diplomats, Cathy and André Le Gallo, Thérèse spent her
childhood years living overseas in Casablanca and Rabat, Morocco, Bamako,
Mali, Bucharest, Romania, and Tehran, Iran. Stateside, her home base was just
outside of Washington D.C. in McLean, VA where she lived in the idyllic
Greenway Heights neighborhood and graduated from Langley High School in
1983.
Thérèse obtained a B.A. in Mass Communications from Miami University of Ohio
in 1987. Inspired by a global perspective, her summer internships at NBC news
and summer jobs at the American Embassy in Tel Aviv, she attained a national
security position in the CIA’s National Clandestine Service as a Case Officer in
1987. She flourished in Greek and French languages and led high impact
counterintelligence and counterterrorism operations for over fifteen years. She
married in 1989, lived in Athens, Greece, Northern Virginia and Geneva,
Switzerland and had two beautiful children. In 1999, she settled with her children
in the San Francisco Bay Area. She met her second husband at the FBI in San
Francisco and they married in Healdsburg, CA in 2004 and lived in Corte
Madera.
Thérèse's father, Andre LeGallo, who predeceased her was also
a Knight of the Order.
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Chevalier Richard E. Keith, CGSJ, Maj. Gen. ret.
December 23,1924 - March 30, 2017
Richard Keith was a staunch member of the Commandery of St. Francis
and served as Commander from 2010 to 2014. He was a congenial
friend to all and a passionate leader.
A World War II veteran, Dick enlisted at 18 and volunteered for
airborne service. He served in the Pacific Theater as a paratrooper
in the 11th Airborne Infantry Division. He participated in three different
campaigns from 1944 through 1945, as a machine gun team leader
in New Guinea and Leyte, and parachuted onto the Philippines island
of Luzon then helped liberate Manila from the Japanese.
He was awarded the Purple Heart, 2 Bronze Stars and various campaign medals.
His peacetime service was with the California National Guard, He retired as Commander of the California State Military Reserve in the rank of Major General.
In civilian life Dick began work as a salesman for Haggar Clothing and later founded his own clothing company which would lead him to contacts and manufacturing sites in Kenya, Sri Lanka, and several other countries. He was a great ambassador of capitalism and befriended several foreign leaders.
Dick enjoyed a full life in retirement. He was an avid golfer and a member of the Marin Country Club. He learned to fly after his military service and owned several planes during his life including a jet from Europe which he flew around northern California. Dick was a member of the St. Francis Yacht Club and enjoyed sailing his yacht on the Bay with friends and family and taking trips up the river to the Delta area. His passive hobby was playing bridge which he enjoyed and played with friends consistently, particularly during the past ten years.
He is survived by his wife of 16 years, Judith and - from a previous marriage - a daughter Dame Kathleen Keith, DGSJ, four sons, eight grandchildren and eleven great grandchildren.
