Ralph Francis Roarty

Ralph Roarty of Silver Spring, MD (formerly of Bethesda, MD) succumbed to the terrible Covid-19 virus on Sunday morning, February 14, 2021 at the age of 66, after being hospitalized for over one month.  He was a devoted husband of Denise Roarty, father of Andrew and Kathryn, and all but father of Joshua, whom he considered his third child, and his beloved dog, Bruno. He was born in Paterson, NJ in 1954, to Katbe (Kouri) and Frank Roarty.  He was a proud graduate of St. John’s College High School in NW Washington, DC class of 1972. He received his Political Science degree from his beloved Mount St. Mary’s University in Emmitsburg, MD.  He had a passionate love for all things related to politics and history, especially US and Middle Eastern. Ralph and Denise married in 1983 and enjoyed 38 blissful years of marriage.  They did almost everything together.  It was expected if you saw one of them, the other would be close by.  Amongst his favorite places to go to were to his friend’s sports bar in Crystal City, VA and to Kent Island, MD on the eastern shore. Ralph worked for and eventually took over the family Oriental Rug Cleaning business, Roarty’s Rug Restoration, formerly called Frank Roarty & Son’s which was established in 1922.  His expertise at cleaning and restoring oriental rugs was well known in the area. Ralph knew and was loved by doctors, politicians, celebrities, and bikers alike.  There was no one that Ralph was not able to talk to and after the first meeting, would become fast friends with.  Due to Covid-19 restrictions and for everyone’s safety, a Celebration of Ralph’s life will be held at a later date. In lieu of flowers a donation in his name to lab-rescue.org/giving.  This is where he adopted his 3 beloved Fox Red labs, Jewel, Penny and the infamous Bruno. 

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