At his death he was the army's oldest living four-star general and its senior retired officer.

Haines served as Commanding General of the 1st Armored Division at Fort Hood, Texas, from 1962 to 1963.

[5] The Ralph E. Haines Jr. Award, presented to the United States Army Reserve Drill Sergeant of the Year, is named in his honor.

[3] One son, Palmer Swift Haines, died in an aircraft crash in 2004 when the Cessna 421 he was piloting suffered dual engine failure near Austin, Texas.

[9] Haines died in November 2011 at the San Antonio Military Medical Center of natural causes.