Wanda Ruth Ragle

Wanda Ruth McKeown Ragle, 83, of Denton, Texas, passed peacefully from this earth on March 7, 2011. Wanda was born January 16, 1928, in Jacksonville, Texas, the second child of the late Rodney W. McKeown and Ruth (Pirkle) McKeown. 

After spending most of her childhood in Jacksonville, the family moved to Grandview, Texas, where she graduated from High School in 1945, and after which they moved to Weatherford, Texas. She was a telephone operator for Southwestern Bell Telephone Company, first in Fort Worth and then in Weatherford, until 1953. An active member of the Baptist Church, Wanda was baptised at Sand Flat Baptist Church near Grandview in 1944, met her future husband in Sunday School at North Side Baptist Church of Weatherford in 1949, and was a member of Bay Vista Baptist Church, Biloxi, Mississippi at the time of her death. 

Over the years she was, at various times, a Sunday School teacher, Vacation Bible School worker, and a frequent church volunteer. Wanda married “the love of her life,” Ralph A. Ragle in 1950, in Weatherford, Texas. They raised three children together, living across the country and around the world as Ralph pursued a career in the Air Force. 

After his military retirement in 1971, they settled in Biloxi, Mississippi where together they owned and operated a successful Rental Center and U-Haul dealership for many years. Wanda became an accomplished decorative painter and was an active member of the Gulf Coast Tole Painters Association for many years. 

Always proud of her heritage, she was a longtime member of the Weatherford Chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution. After they “really” retired, they continued to live in Biloxi until Ralph’s death, after 57 years of marriage, in 2007. 

Wanda is survived by her three children: Ralph Ragle, Jr. and wife, Charlotte, of Corinth, Texas; Patricia Ragle, of Biloxi, Mississippi; and Rodney Ragle and wife, Michelle, of Crestview, Florida; grandchildren: Ralph Ragle, III and wife, Noelalee; Stacey DeHoyos and husband, Jesse; Mandy Austin and husband, Kyle; Molly Ragle; and Macey Ragle; great-grandchildren are: Hunter Lemaster, Matthew Ragle, Ryan Ragle, Joseph DeHoyos, Jesse DeHoyos, Jr., Emma DeHoyos, and Ashlee DeHoyos. 

She is also survived by sisters and brothers: Bessie Long and husband, Bobby; David McKeown and wife, Linda; Donald McKeown and wife, Sara; and Linda Wadlington and husband, Darrell. 

A great many in-laws, nieces, nephews, cousins, and friends, all of whom she loved dearly, also survive. 

She was preceded in death by: her husband, Ralph; her parents, Rodney and Ruth McKeown; her sisters, Gladys McKeown, Jean Roberts, and Barbara Lombardi; and her brothers, Royce McKeown and Floyd McKeown. 

A funeral service will be held at the Galbreaith Pickard Funeral Chapel, Weatherford, Texas, at 3:00 p.m., Thursday, March 10, 2011. Visitation is from 2:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m., Thursday prior to the funeral service. She will be buried with her husband at Biloxi National Cemetery in Biloxi, Mississippi.

The family requests that in lieu of flowers, memorial donations be made to the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, (www.jdrf.org).