J.D. "Dee" Ragan M.D. Jr.

1932 - 2024

J.D. "Dee" Ragan, Jr. M.D.
10/11/1932 - 11/03/2024
Dee Ragan was born on October 11,1932 and passed away peacefully on November 3, 2024. He was the second child and only son of Jesse D. and Margaret Holder Ragan. Dee grew up in Pasadena Texas and graduated from Pasadena High School in 1951. After graduation, he attended Vanderbilt University where he was premed and finished in three years. Dee entered Baylor College of Medicine in 1954 and graduated in 1958. During medical school, he met and married his wife, Sally Ringer, on August 17, 1956 and they enjoyed a long and happy marriage for 59 years. Dee and Sally then moved to Ann Arbor, Michigan where he completed his three-year pediatric residency at the University of Michigan. In 1961, they returned to Houston where Dee later started his own practice in partnership with Dr. A. Thomas Adkins. The practice grew to include Dr. R. Peter Killinger and Dr. John W. Caudill, and later, Dr. Campbell M. Lange.

Dee was a wonderful husband, father, son, friend, uncle and grandfather as well as a beloved pediatrician for so many families over 37 years. He was widely respected in his field and served on the staffs of Methodist, St. Luke's, Memorial Southwest, The Woman's Hospital of Texas and Texas Children's Hospitals.

Dee enjoyed gardening, painting landscapes and still life's and making pieces of furniture for his home. Curious by nature, he was always interested in other people and enjoyed conversing with anyone he met. He was actively interested in his grandchildren's hobbies and interests and always supported them as Ragan and Aidan grew up. Dee was a kind, caring, fun, interesting and very special person with an amazing memory for names, faces and details. In looking back over his life, he said if he got to do it again, he would do it the same way. Truly a life well lived.

He will always be loved and forever missed. Dee is predeceased by his wife, Sally Ringer Ragan, his parents, his cousins Rick Holder and Jay Holder, his sister-in-law Margaret Rice, nephew Mike Rice and brother-in-law Vernon Gwynne. He is survived by his daughter Amy Ragan, his daughter Sarah Ragan Foley and her husband Patrick H. Foley, his grandchildren Mary Ragan Foley and Aidan Patrick Foley. He is also survived by his sister Betty Gwynne, his nieces Margaret Aaron, Jan Lipsky, Anella Oaks and their spouses, children and grandchildren, by his cousins Mary Beth Fine, Virginia Walters Perry, Judy Rogers, Phyllis and Tex Spear and all their children and grandchildren and his cousin-in-law, Janie Holder. He is also survived by his brother-in-law Bob Rice, his niece Ellen Rice and his niece-in-law, Alison Rice.

The family would like to give special thanks to the memory care staff at the Village of River Oaks for their special care and love towards Dee over the past two and a half years. A celebration of life will be held in January 2025. The family requests that in lieu of flowers, donations be made in memory of Dee Ragan to Texas Children's Hospital, 1919 S. Braeswood Blvd., Suite 6226, Houston, Texas 77030 or www.texaschildrens.org/deeragan or to Houston Food Bank, 535 Portwall, Houston Texas 77029 or www.houstonfoodbank.org/ragan