Ralph Stover, 90; Spent 27 Years on White House Police Force
Ralph C. Stover, 90, who protected five presidents during his 27 years in the Secret Service’s uniformed White House Police Force, died Thursday of cancer at his home in Cocoa Beach, Fla.
He joined the force in 1940 and served as chief of the group for nine years, witnessing the public and private lives of Presidents Dwight D. Eisenhower, John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson.
For the record:
12:00 a.m. Feb. 9, 2002 FOR THE RECORD
Los Angeles Times Saturday February 9, 2002 Home Edition Main News Part A Page 2 A2 Desk 2 inches; 63 words Type of Material: Correction
Stover obituary--An obituary of Ralph Stover in the California section on Jan. 30 incorrectly referred to him as a Secret Service agent. In fact, Stover was a police officer, as are all members of the force that protects the White House. The obituary also stated that Stover retired from the U.S. Secret Service Uniformed Division in 1968, but it was then known as the White House Police. The force is now known as the U.S. Secret Service Uniformed Division.
Kennedy gave Stover the nickname “Smokey.” The Secret Service agent was not in Dallas when Kennedy was assassinated but planned many of the details of the president’s funeral procession.
Stover retired from the White House force, then known as the U.S. Secret Service Uniformed Division, in 1968.
Born in Elkhart, Ind., Stover attended North Central College in Naperville, Ill., and the University of Minnesota. He served in the Army Air Corps before joining the Washington, D.C., Police Department in 1936. He served in the Navy for two years during World War II.
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