Ralph Wellington Strickland, 90, of Fair Bluff, NC passed away Saturday, December 8, 2018 at Carillon Senior LifeCare Community in Lubbock, Texas. Born in 1928, he was the son of the late Donnie Clayton Strickland and Lela Edmond Strickland.

Interrupted only by his military service in the Korean Conflict, Ralph served as a Special Agent with the Federal Bureau of Investigation for nearly thirty years, stationed at the FBI Laboratory in Washington, DC, retiring in 1979. He and his wife, Betty, spent their golden years in the Fair Bluff and Cherry Grove communities looking forward to frequent visits from their children and grandchildren. Widowed in 1994 after 43 years of marriage, Ralph stayed busy in the Strickland family's Holly Tree Farms Partnership until the death of his brother, Donald, in 2008. Ralph enjoyed managing renovation projects on his family's old home place farm. Most recently, Ralph had started a new chapter in his life by moving to a senior community near family in Lubbock, Texas. But Ralph's final wishes were to be laid to rest next to his late wife, Betty, at Cherry Grove.

In addition to his parents, Ralph was predeceased by his wife, Betty Warwick Strickland, and his brother, Donald Clayton Strickland, Jr.

He is survived by his three children, Mark Clayton Strickland (Mary Fran Ellis) of Tallahassee, FL, Harriet Lela Strickland of Cerro Gordo, NC, and Margaret Strickland Kirby (John) of Lubbock, TX; by his sister, Libby Strickland Pare of Stuart, FL; and by three grandchildren, Lauren Frances Strickland of Tallahassee, FL, James Ellis Strickland of Nashville, TN, and Claire Rita Kirby of Lubbock, TX.

The family will receive friends from 4:00 until 5:00 p.m., Saturday, December 15, 2018 at Meares Funeral Home in Mullins. A graveside funeral service will be held at 3:00 p.m., Sunday, December 16, 2018 at the Cherry Grove Baptist Church Cemetery in Cerro Gordo, NC.

In lieu of flowers, the family suggests that memorials be made in his memory to Former Agents of the FBI Foundation, P.O. Box 1027, Quantico, VA 22134 or to The Carillon Foundation, Carillon Senior LifeCare Community, 1717 Norfolk Avenue, Lubbock, TX 79416.

An online guestbook is available at www.mearesfh.com.