Hon. Ralph J. Muehlig

Honorable Ralph John Muehlig, 85, of Bonita Springs, Florida passed away on Wednesday, March 14, 2012, son of the late Ralph Emil Muehlig and Margaret Gertrude McCabe Muehlig of Winchester, MA.

He is survived by his loving wife of 43 years, Sandra Wieser Muehlig; a brother Dr. John Muehlig and his wife Eleanor; sister-in-law, Jill and her husband Paul Senick; brother-in-law, Forrest and his wife Theodora Wieser and five nieces and nephews.

Judge Muehlig was born September 30, 1926 in Quincy, MA and graduated from Winchester MA High School in 1944. He enlisted in the United States Navy in 1944 and served as a Radio Operator on the Destroyer Joseph P. Kennedy Jr. until 1946. Following his Naval service during World War II, he attended Dartmouth College, where he was a member of the Phi Sigma Kappa fraternity and the Welterweight Golden Glove Boxing Champion, graduating in 1950.

Judge Muehlig was active in New Jersey politics and was appointed by Governor Richard Hughes to the New Jersey State Board of Mediation in 1964 and to the Workman's Compensation Commission in 1967. He was an active volunteer for the Heart Fund, Boy Scouts and the United Way. Judge Muehlig was elected President of the Middlesex County United Fund in 1964. He also served on the initial Board of Trustees of the John F. Kennedy Medical Center and was active in the centers' growth and development over the years.

Judge Muehlig began his corporate career with Westinghouse Electric Corporation and spent several years as Director of Industrial Relations for the Consumer Products Divisions in Edison, NJ.

In 1972 he took a three-year leave of absence to attend and graduate from Rutgers Law School, returning to Westinghouse in 1975 as Vice-President and General Counsel of the Elevator Company. In 1980, he was transferred to corporate headquarters in Pittsburgh as Director of Government Affairs. Judge Muehlig retired in 1984.

In 1985 he was a Department of Labor appointee under Presidents Reagan and Bush, before his appointment to the Bench in 1989. In 1991 he was appointed to the Federal Court, until retiring on his 80th birthday in 2006.

Services: A Mass of Christian Burial will be held, Wednesday, March 21, 2012, at10:30 a.m. at Sacred Heart Catholic Church, 1817 First St., Bethlehem, PA 18020. Visitation will be held, Tuesday, from 4-8 p.m. and Wednesday, from 9-10 a.m. at Connell Funeral Home, Inc., 245 E. Broad St., Bethlehem, PA 18018. Burial with Military Honors will follow at Cedar Hill Memorial Park, Allentown, PA.

A Memorial Service will be held in Bonita Springs at a later date.

Memorial Contributions may be made in his memory to Saint Jude Children's Research Hospital, 501 St. Jude Place, Memphis, TN 38105.Send online condolences to www.connellfuneral.com.