Ralph A. Warburton was the first hockey player from RI to play in the Olympics. He was a member of the US hockey team that competed at the 1948 Winter Olympics and went on to play professional hockey. Born in Cranston on January 7, 1924, he was one of eight children of the late William R. and Mary C. (Appleton) Warburton. He was raised in Edgewood and graduated in 1941 from LaSalle Academy, where he was an all-state hockey player. After graduating from high school, he served in the Navy during World War II.
After the war, Warburton played right wing for Dartmouth College, and he became part of a powerhouse line with eventual Olympic teammates Bruce Mather at center and Bruce Cunliffe on the left wing. This line not only led Dartmouth in scoring for two seasons but helped Dartmouth achieve a remarkable 46-game unbeaten streak (45-0-1) from 1941–42 to 1944–45. Warburton set a career-high for points in a single game on January 20, 1945, as he registered 7 points against Cornell University, with five goals and two assists. For the 1946–47 season, Warburton was elected team captain. During this season, he added two more four-goal performances against Army and Boston College. The two high-scoring games came in close succession, with the first occurring on February 8, 1946, and the second coming just three days later on February 11, 1946.
Dartmouth ended the 1946–47 season as the number one ranked team in the nation. The number one ranking was more significant since it was before the advent of NCAA hockey championships. In his last semester at Dartmouth, the team won the Ivy League championship, and as Warburton would recount, “We were the unofficial national champions that year as well. We beat Michigan, Colorado, and California that year and played the University of Toronto at the Rhode Island Auditorium in Providence for the championship of North America. The game was tied 2-2 but couldn’t be completed because the ice became too soft.”
In 1948, Warburton headed to St. Moritz, Switzerland, to compete in the Olympic Games with his fellow linemates. Unfortunately, two United States teams were sent due to a conflict over what constituted an amateur athlete. This situation nearly caused the cancellation of the entire ice hockey tournament at the 1948 Olympics. Eventually, a compromise was made, and Warburton’s squad was allowed to compete but was ineligible for medal contention.
He continued to play hockey after the Olympics, first with the Milwaukee Clarks and later with Bruce Mather on the Boston Olympics. Warburton’s best post-college year came during the 1950–51 season while playing for the Olympics in the Eastern Hockey League. Warburton finished in the top ten that year in all three major offensive statistical categories. He ranked second in goals (33), tenth in assists (30), and sixth in points (63).
While playing in Milwaukee, he met his wife of 58 years, the former Rosemary A. Humer, who died in 2009. In 1951, Warburton turned in his skates for a job in the investment business in Providence. He worked for 25 years at Merrill Lynch and would finish his 47-year career as a vice president at PaineWebber.
Warburton kept hockey close to his heart long after he stopped playing the sport. He loved coaching youth hockey at Meehan Auditorium and, over the years, refereed many collegiate hockey games. He served as president of the National Ice Hockey Officials Association from 1965-1967 and was also president of the local chapter here. Warburton was a past president of the Dartmouth Club of Rhode Island, served on the board of trustees of Vocational Resources, and was a past member of Ocean Tides. He did investment assignments for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Providence and served on budget committees for the United Way.
He was a member of Point Judith Country Club, a former longtime member of the Dunes Club, and a member of St. Francis Assisi Church in Wakefield. He died on December 25, 2021, at the age of 97. He is survived by his daughter, Martha W. Brough, of Exeter, her husband Matthew, and two grandchildren.
He was inducted into the Dartmouth College Hall of Fame in 1984. At age 94, he was honored by the Rhode Island Hockey Hall of Fame in 2018 with the Malcolm Greene Chace Award for “Lifetime contributions of a Rhode Islander to the game of ice hockey.” He was inducted into the Rhode Island Heritage Hall of Fame in 1968.
For additional reading:
1. “Ralph Warburton Biography and Olympic Results”. Sports-reference.com, April 18, 2020.
2. “6 Point Games”. Dartmouth College. November 6, 2002.
3. “Dartmouth Team Records by Year”. Dartmouth College. October 13, 2008.
4. “4 Goal Games”. Dartmouth College. November 22, 2003.