Ralph Coleman Aikman, 77, of Litchfield, died on Thursday, Jan. 7, 2021, at 6:15 a.m. at his residence.
No services will be held. Cremation rites were accorded. Plummer Funeral Home in Litchfield is assisting the family.
Mr. Aikman was born Jan. 1, 1944, in St. Louis, MO, an adopted son of Charles A. “Chalkie” and Geneva Ann (Heltsley) Aikman.
He graduated from Litchfield High School with the class of 1962, and went on to Georgia Tech as a math major, later switching to mechanical engineering. While at Georgia Tech, he was a member of the Phi Kappa Tau fraternity.
Mr. Aikman married his first wife, Alice Annett Farmer, in June 1965. After he graduated from Georgia Tech in 1966, they moved to Rochester, NY.
He worked for Kodak, designing the camera for “Spy in the Sky” satellites. He took classes at the University of Rochester to work on his MBA. He and his wife Alice started a stock market newsletter, The Leverage Advisor. He later quit his job at Kodak to go back to school full time, attending Harvard.
Mr. Aikman won a full fellowship to Harvard University, Graduate School of Business, and graduated with an MBA in finance in 1970. While at Harvard, he wrote a weekly column on investing for the student newspaper, The Harbus News. After graduating from Harvard, he was the cost analyst on the Polaroid SX-70 camera and later became the senior financial analyst for the Polaroid Corporation in Cambridge, MA.
In his later years, he worked for United Brands Corporation as VP strategic planning, managing director for Standard Research Consultants in New York, managing director at MMG Patricof and Co. in New York, and eventually settling as president at Candlewood Consultants in Tucson, AZ.
Mr. Aikman traveled extensively around the world throughout his years, often times to exotic places.
In May 1975, he and Alice divorced.He later met Nancy Ann Donahue and spent ten years with her before their separation in 1984. He married Ann Helmick on June 26, 1987, and after a long battle with frontal lobe dementia, she preceded him in death on Nov. 20, 2010. He later married Peggy JoAnn Roberts on Sept. 11, 2012, in Tucson, AZ, and she survives.
In addition to his wife Peggy, Mr. Aikman is survived by his stepsons, Michael (Carmen) Coatney of Hillsboro and Kevin (Lacey Dwyer) Coatney of Litchfield; daughter, Candace Alicia Corley; four grandchildren, Cameron Corley, Rebecca Corley, Max Corley and Mackenzie Corley; and three stepgrandchildren, Matthew Coatney, Josie Coatney and Dalton Coatney.
In addition to his wife Ann, he was preceded in death by his parents.
Memorials may be directed to Paws Care of Montgomery County.
To light a candle or sign the online guestbook, visit www.plummerfuneralservices.com.
