Funeral Details

Ralph C. Musicant died at age 77 on February 23, 2025 at Northwestern Memorial Hospital surrounded by his wife, his brother, a sister-in-law, a good friend and many loved ones in person and virtually.

Ralph met and fell in love with Carleen Schreder in 1985, and they were married at Chicago Yacht Club on November 1, 1986. He soon learned that birthdays don't just happen on 1 day - they happen for an entire week.

In addition to his wife, he is survived by his beloved dogs, Pinto and Otter, his brother David Musicant and his sister Myra Musicant. Ralph is also survived by Carleen's extensive family whom he learned to love and all of whom loved him. This includes (1) her 6 siblings and their spouses - Brenda and Steve, Kevin and Annette, Julie, Robin and Vicky, Denise and Scott, and Nathan and Kara, (2) their thirteen nieces and nephews and their spouses - Paul, Mark and Dawn, Beth and Brian, Jason and Morgan, Bryan and Ashley, Matthew and Allie, Eric, Lauren and Kyle, James, Parker and Madi, Conner, Luke, and Ben, (3) their fourteen great nieces and nephews and one spouse - Kaleb, Keaton, Karmon, Kamille, Lukas and Lexy, Molly, Ashley, Noah, Mae, Kolbe, Gianna, John Paul, Ryker, and Kayden. Ralph was glad that there were at least a couple of Cubs fans in the group! He hopes the family will continue the Musicant Invitational Bowling Tournament every Thanksgiving.

Ralph graduated from Northwestern University in 1968. He was proud of graduating from Harvard Law School (1971) but hated the practice of law. Instead he loved coming up with new ideas for businesses long before the world was ready. He always said the most significant events in his life before marrying Carleen were attending Harvard Law School and going on an Outward Bound excursion.

Ralph was an avid sailor and named all his sailboats Enlightened. He loved scuba diving and got his wish to dive the Great Barrier Reef. He was happiest doing anything on or in the water.

He had many loyal loving friends from grade school, high school, college, law school, Chicago Yacht Club, East Bank Club, and Macatawa Bay Yacht Club. He enjoyed martinis and good cigars, loved Kangol hats in every color, always wanted to try something new (like zip lining for the first time in Hawaii in 2011), and was a great story teller. His stories were memorable and could make you laugh even after you heard them for the 10th time.

He will be missed by so many. Whether you knew him for 70 years or 7 years, you always remembered when you first met Ralph. This last week, Ralph has been described as "an original", "one in a million", "generous to a fault", "room-filling", "distinctive", "coolest guy in the room", "a personality of joy" - this says it all.

Ralph's last tattoo was "Justice for all" in Hebrew. In keeping with that spirt, he wanted donations to be made to social justice organizations. He favored two that were founded by his friends, Center for Global Initiatives (Ralph was a founding advisor) and Environmental Law and Policy Center in Chicago, but feel free to choose your own organization.

A celebration of life will be arranged shortly. Arrangements by Chicago Jewish Funerals - Skokie Chapel, 847.229.8822, www.cjfinfo.com