Ralph Elroy Christman was the mayor of North Olmsted for seven consecutive terms from 1964 to 1977. He had been a councilman from the city's Ward Two for two terms and had been on the council's committee on streets and sewers before he upset incumbent mayor Paul J. Gareau in 1963. He was 38 then and the third-youngest mayor in the county. In his 14 years as mayor, the city's population doubled. He oversaw the completion of the city's sewer system, an expansion of the sewage treatment plant, the purchase of land for recreation and the establishment of a department of human resources to help the poor and elderly. He also oversaw construction of a new police station and the city's recreation center. Mr. Christman was a main supporter of the center and pushed for it over voter opposition to recreation projects. Voters had rejected six proposed bond issues for a swimming pool between 1955 and 1970, and Christman expected a similar result if he put the recreation center up for vote. Instead he set up a separate budget for the project and paid for it by charging fees for its use. Mr. Christman , 68, died Friday at Magruder Hospital in Port Clinton,OH. He had heart and lung trouble. He was born in North Olmsted and lived there all his life, until moving to Catawba Island Township, northeast of Port Clinton,OH in 1980. He was a 1943 graduate of North Olmsted High School and graduated from the former Fenn College with a degree in mechanical engineering. He and a brother, along with another investor, founded Christman-Prescott Mason Contractors in 1951 and ran the company until 1976. He was an active member of the Republican Party from 1960 until 1980. While mayor, he served as president of the Cuyahoga County Mayors and City Managers Association, was a member of the executive committee of the Regional Planning Commission, and served as a trustee of the Citizens League of Greater Cleveland. From 1978 to 1980 he worked as director of the Cuyahoga County Sanitary Engineers Department. He was a member of the North Olmsted Kiwanis Club, the V.F.W., the Masons, the Al Koran Shrine and the North Olmsted Sportsman's Club. He was also a supporter of the Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts. He was a member of the Clague Road United Church of Christ in North Olmsted and, upon moving to Catawba Island, became a member and elder of the Firelands Presbyterian Church. He is survived by his wife, Dolores; a son, Kim A. of Strongsville,OH; a daughter, Debbie A. Freed of Cleveland,OH; four grandchildren; two brothers; and a sister. Services will be at 1:30 p.m. tomorrow at Sunset Memorial Park, 6265 Columbia Rd., North Olmsted. Arrangements are by the Kacirek funeral home, North Olmsted,OH. (Copyright: Copyright, 1993, The Plain Dealer. All Rights Reserved. Used by NewsBank with Permission.)