ST. LOUIS - Ralph Butler, a well-known entertainer around the Alton area, is in recovery from a recent kidney transplant, but is doing well and on the mend.
Ralph is most known for his work with other talented musicians Gigi Darr and Lew Wiener. The trio has frequently been asked to perform at different charity events and other types of community affairs.
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For Christmas of 2022, Ralph is very thankful for a kidney donation from his nephew, Donald Butler, that in essence saved his life. Ralph said he has suffered from high blood pressure and then kidney disease.
“Friends, I am quite aware of my family and friends’ love and support,” he said. “I’d like everyone to know that I have been going through recovery after my recent kidney transplant. That is a big part of why many of you haven’t heard from me. For that, I apologize! It will take a few months before I get back to feeling that I’m sufficiently healed.
"Lori (Fulford) has been taking good care of me and the house. Although it would be easy to get lazy I don’t want to weigh too heavily on Lori. She has been such a trooper taking care of literally everything while working a demanding job. My hat is off to her, along with my loving support.”
As far as his bandmates, Ralph said: “I may have said before, I do plan to go to work again after I am healed, so you guys please don’t forget about me. I promise I won’t keep you waiting too long. I have been recuperating well, feeling better week to week.”
Ralph said he had his kidney transplant at St. Louis University Hospital and he was very thankful to his doctors and others at the facility that the surgery and recovery has gone well.
Ralph loves the entertainment business and says it is all he has ever done professionally.
“I feel like I have been blessed with the ability to entertain,” he said. “I love singing. It is just something I have always gravitated toward and it feels right.”
With his entertainment gifts, Ralph and the other bandmates have helped many charitable causes around the Riverbend and St. Louis areas.
“It just feels right,” he said of their support of so many different charities. “People need help and I need help. That is why I do what I do.
“This Christmas I am just mainly healing and doing the best I can for everybody. I know I can still contribute. After the transplant, Donald was the first person I thought of, I just wanted him to be all right and he is going well."
Ralph closed with a Christmas message from his kind heart: “I would like to send my heartfelt appreciation to all of you who have been sending prayers and good wishes. Merry Christmas! Love, Ralph Butler.”
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