Ralph Waite earned a master’s degree from Yale University Divinity School and was an ordained Presbyterian minister and religious editor at Harper & Row in New York City before deciding on an acting career. Waite was married three times, two marriages ending in divorce. He had three daughters from his first marriage. His eldest daughter died of leukemia when she was nine years old in 1964. After 50 years away from organized religion, Waite returned in 2010 and became an active member of Spirit of the Desert Presbyterian Fellowship in Palm Desert, California. Ralph Waite died peacefully on February 13, 2014, from age-related illnesses; he was 85 years old. (Info from Wikipedia)