November 7, 1922 –  March 2, 2011  WHITESBORO-Funeral services for Ben C. Ragsdale, 88, will be held at 11:00 A.M. Saturday, March 5, 2011 at Meador Funeral Home in Whitesboro with Rev. Jack Wallace and Rev. Glyn Rives officiating. Interment will follow at Oakwood Cemetery in Whitesboro. Visitation will be from 10:00 A.M. until 11:00 A.M. Saturday, one hour prior to the funeral service at the funeral home. Mr. Ragsdale passed away on Wednesday, March 2, 2011 in Whitesboro.
Ben was born on November 7, 1922 to Louis Benjamin and Lana Beatrice (Henderson) Ragsdale in Jacksboro, Texas. He served in WWII as a fighter pilot in the US Army Air Corps flying a P-47 “Thunderbolt”. He said the plane had saved him many times over. He married Johnnie Owen on December 12, 1947 in Sherman, Texas. He was employed by APAC Texas for thirty-eight years retiring as Vice President of the Asphalt Division in 1989. Ben was a member of the First United Methodist Church in Whitesboro. He loved to hunt and fish, to be outdoors, and to work in his garden . He loved his family and was crazy about his only granddaughter, Jacilyn.
He is survived by his wife, Johnnie Ragsdale of Whitesboro; a son, Donald G. Ragsdale of Whitesboro; a daughter, Beverly A. Pierce of Cookeville, TN; a granddaughter, Jaclyn M. Pierce, of Cookeville, TN; a brother, Louis Ragsdale; nieces, Vicki Tetreault; Linda Bellingham; Susanne Russell, and Marilyn Jenkins; nephews, Steve Ragsdale and Rodney Summy; and sister-in- law, Olga Summy.
Ben was preceded in death by his parents and a brother, John Ragsdale.
Memorial contributions can be made to First United Methodist Church, P. O. Box 370, Whitesboro, TX, 76273 and Home Hospice of Grayson Co., P. O. Box 2306, Sherman, TX 75091.