John Ralls

John Michael Ralls, age 66, of Buffalo Center, passed away peacefully on Saturday, February 19th, 2022 at the University of Minnesota Medical Center in Minneapolis. He passed away after a valiant 5-month fight resulting from complications of heart bypass surgery. A Celebration of John’s Life will be held at a future date. People wishing to memorialize John can send donations to the Friends of Winnebago County Conservation Foundation at 34496 110th Avenue, Forest City, IA, 50436. All proceeds will go towards the Winnebago County Conservation Board’s new Environmental Education Center.

John was born in St. Louis Park, MN, on February 3rd, 1956, to John and Gerda (Larson) Ralls. In 1974, he graduated from St. Louis Park High School, and then attended Hennepin Technical College where he received an Associate’s Degree in Television Production and Broadcasting.

After college, he worked as a News Director for television station KSFY in Sioux Falls, SD, then he moved to Forest City to work at CycleSat. It was in Forest City that he met Lisa Schoning. On June 3rd, 1995, John and Lisa were married in Omaha, NE, and two years later, on June 22nd, 1997, they welcomed their only child, Jack. Jack was truly John’s pride and joy!

About the same time that Jack was born, CycleSat moved out of Forest City. John and Lisa decided not to move, so John switched paths and eventually became a Youth Counselor at Elmore Academy in Elmore, MN. That subsequently led to a job as a paraeducator at the North Iowa Community School District. After working at North Iowa, John returned to his television roots and became a surveillance agent at the Diamond Jo Casino, where he worked until his death.

While at North Iowa, John was especially proud of his ability to work with the high school students. He truly enjoyed helping Social Studies and English students with their projects and research papers. Watching them succeed was always very gratifying to him! He also enjoyed being an assistant coach for the North Iowa Varsity Softball Team for two seasons. He was the assistant coach the year that North Iowa won the North Iowa Conference Softball Championship, and helping those girls achieve that goal was one of John’s proudest accomplishments!

John was also very active with the Winnebago County Democratic Party, serving as the County Chair for many years. In fact, he was instrumental in organizing the very first North Iowa Democratic Wing Ding, a fundraiser that has grown over the years to become a nationally-televised event that attracts top Democratic politicians from across the country.

In his free time, John enjoyed following Minnesota sports, especially the Wild, the Twins, and the Vikings. He also enjoyed traveling with his family, which often included a day at the racetrack. And, he especially loved to relax in the evening with a good cigar and a smooth glass of bourbon.

John was preceded in death by his father, John; his mother, Gerda; his sister, Peg Peterson; brothers-in-law, Tony Dispanet and Jock Peterson; and father-in-law, Fred Schoning. He is survived by Lisa, his wife of 26 years; his son, Jack of New York, NY (and Jack’s special friend Jessica Anderson, also of New York, NY); his sister, Barb Dispanet of Luverne, MN; his brother David Ralls, of Burnsville, MN; his mother-in-law, Susan Schoning of Buffalo Center; his beloved rat terrier, Mo; and many other relatives and friends.