Ray Ragsdale

News Obituary Article

COLLEGE PARK: Ray Ragsdale, 71, teacher, gardener

By HOLLY CRENSHAW

After a day in the classroom, Ray Ragsdale couldn't wait to get to his backyard garden filled with daffodils and azaleas that would burst into bloom at the first hint of spring.

"He would work four or six hours at a stretch, and sometimes it would get so hot that I'd have to go out there and almost force him to come in," said his wife, Yvonne Ragsdale of College Park.

The funeral for Raymond L. Ragsdale, 71, was Friday. He died of cancer at his College Park residence Monday. Donald Trimble Mortuary is in charge of arrangements.

Mr. Ragsdale worked for 35 years as a fifth-, sixth- and seventh-grade teacher in the Atlanta Public School system, including stints at Continental Colony Elementary and Capitol View Elementary. He retired from Ragsdale Elementary School --- no relation, despite his students' teasing --- in 1998.

Rubye Lucas of Atlanta, who taught with him at Continental Colony, said its open classroom approach in the '70s was sometimes noisy and chaotic.

"But Ray had a quiet stillness about him that made the children respect him highly," she said.

He enjoyed ushering at his church, poring over his collection of jazz records and fussing over a succession of well-loved cars.

His phone was always ringing with friends asking for gardening advice.

"When I look out and see the daffodils," Ms. Lucas said, "I can't help but think about him."

Survivors include two daughters, Michelle Ragsdale Rouse of Fayetteville and Valerie Ragsdale of Kennesaw; a son, Renard Ragsdale of Austell; a stepdaughter, Tara Clark Brown of Decatur; a stepson, Eric Clark of Atlanta; three sisters, Josephine Davis, Dorothy Smith and Beverly Collier, all of Atlanta; a brother, Johnny Ragsdale of Ellenwood; and four grandchildren.

© 2005 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution