The son of Zetta Work and Harry McCreary, Ralph McCreary was President and Chairman of the Board of the McCreary Tire and Rubber Company here. He retired in 1963, having held various offices in the company, which his father had founded on May 25, 1914. Born in Graceton on March 27, 1897, he was a son Harry and Moreta Lizetta “Zetta” Work McCreary. For three years, the family resided in Carson City, Nevada.
McCreary graduated from Indiana high school in 1914 and attended Gettysburg College, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in chemistry. In December 1917, he enlisted in the US Army and was quickly deployed to France. His mother had to travel to Gettysburg to pick up his diploma.
In April 1919, McCreary joined his father in the tire plant and remained in charge of production until 1962. He and his brother, Harry C. McCreary–who died in 1964–stepped down from the active production and sale of tires.
Throughout his life, McCreary led a number of community causes, including Boy Scouts and the YMCA. His involvement began in 1925, when he became a scoutmaster as a service project for the Rotary Club. He served as the president of the William Penn Council of the Boy Scouts from 1947 to 1951 and was a member of the regional Council for more than 25 years. For 22 years, he served on the national committee on exploring. In 1950, the Boy Scouts honored him with the Silver Beaver Award in 1950 and, in 1959, the Silver Buffalo Award. McCreary and Jimmy Stewart are the only two citizens of Indiana to have received the Silver Buffalo. McCreary was a life-long member of Zion Lutheran Church in Indiana. He died April 7, 1977, in in Pittsburgh.