Ralph Berets died peacefully, surrounded by his children, at his apartment in Overland Park on Sept. 21, 2022.
Ralph Berets was born in Amersfoort, Netherlands, on Dec. 5, 1939. He was in hiding during the Holocaust and came to the U.S. with his parents and sister when he was 12.
Ralph attended the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, where he got his bachelor's degree in English and his master’s and Ph.D. in English and comparative literature. He married his wife of 57 years, Iris, on Dec. 29, 1963. He began his academic career as a lecturer at the University of Michigan before moving to Kansas City in 1970. There he spent his entire career as a professor of English and film at University of Missouri-Kansas City. He also was the chair of the English department for many years.
After retiring, Ralph lived in Mill Valley, California; Arlington, Virginia; and Overland Park. Throughout that time, he taught courses as an adjunct at various universities, was on the selection committee for the Mill Valley and Kansas City Jewish Film Festivals, was part of Steven Spielberg’s Holocaust project (USC Shoah Foundation), and volunteered at the Holocaust Museum in Washington, D.C.
Ralph will be remembered and missed by his family and many friends (which he made wherever he went) for his kindness and warmth, intelligence and intellectual pursuits, vigor for life, wit and sense of humor, and care and love for his family.
Ralph is predeceased by his wife and by his parents, Hilde and Otto Berets. He is survived by his sister, Marion Kamp; his three children, Eric (Ginger), Keith (Lenora), and Jessica (Davinder); seven grandchildren, Tyler, Morgan, Harrison, Lillian, Samuel, Jeremy, and Ajay; and two great-granddaughters, Makenna and Raegan.
A celebration of Ralph’s life will be held at Village Shalom in Overland Park on Oct. 16, 2022, at 11 a.m. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Fund or Jewish Family Services.
