IN MEMORY OF
Little Leslie and Carol Ann with their dad.
almost always seem to have died so
young. But that's the way it was with
Ralph .
He created something where there
was nothing before, and now it wasn't
even his to enjoy.
Ralph Lally was a New Orleans
native , a graduate of Jesuit High
School, one of the city's premier
schools.
He attended the University of
Southwestern Louisiana in Lafayette
while working his way through school
with a fulltime job at a Lafayette
vendi ng machine company. While still
a student he married Carol Pearce,
also a New Orleans native . And after
he was finally graduated from college
with a degree in Management, he and
Carol returned to New Orleans where
he took a job as executive vice
president and general manager of
Operator Sales, a distributing arm for
one of the city's largest operating
companies, T AC Amusement.
In early 1974 , he started
developing his idea to start a magazine
that served the coin-op amusement
industry exclusively.
8
After only a few months, it became
apparent the magazine was going to
take all his energies; so he left his
position at T AC and started working
fulltime at Play Meter writing articles
and selling advertising.
From the very beginning, he
decided to forge a magazine that
would depend upon operator
subscriptions more so than manufac-
turer advertisements.
Some years later, he wrote, "It is
not our intention to produce a vanity
publication that is designed to
generate as many advertising dollars
as possible. Play Meter is aimed at
helping the operators of America
become better and more profitable
businessmen ."
To others , that might ha ve
sounded trite , but not to Ralph Lall y.
In the same way, it might sound
trite to say life wasn't fair to someone,
because it's hardly ever fair to anyone .
But life was especially unfair to him .
He built a magazine which did
more for the industry than it did for
him.
Suffice it to say Ralph C. Lally II ,
38 years old, is survived by his wife ,
Carol ; his two daughters , Carol Ann ,
14, and Leslie Ann , 8; his mother
Mildred; his brother, Jack ; and his two
sisters, Milly Steigner and Pamela
Senac. He was buried at Lake Lawn
Mausoleum in Metairie, December
12th in a private ceremony for the
immediate family and close friends .
Those wishing to express their
condolences are asked instead to make
contributions to the American Kidney
Fund ; 7315 Wisconsin Ave .;Suite 203
East; Bethesda , Maryland 20814.
Carol Lally has assumed the
position of editor and publisher of
Play Meter and has announced her
intention to continue both the
magazine and the AOE in the tradition
her husband set.
After her husband's death , she
said, "The most important things in
the world to me right now are my kids,
Play Meter magazine , and the AOE!"
In his memory, we the staff of Play
Meter dedicate this issue and this
yea r's AOE . Also in his memory, we
are not publi shing the econd of the
two-part series co mmemorating Play
Meter's fir t ten yea rs of exi tence .
In s te a d , th a t t e n- yea r
pecial
anniversary report will be published in
the ne xt is ue.
Next to Play Meter, golf was his passion.
PLAY METER. January 1 5. 1985