Wilma Ragan

On March 17th, Wilma Rae Ragan, age 93 passed away at Cottage in the Meadow, in Yakima, WA after a decades-long battle with Chronic Kidney Disease & Congestive Heart Failure. She was born in Hartford, Kentucky to Claude Schroader and Mayme Jewel Bailey in March of 1929 and grew up playing on their family farm with her three brothers, Glenn, Wendell, and Russel. After her family moved to Washington State to find work in the agricultural industry, her parents divorced and both remarried. Wilma soon became the older sister to Cindy and Byron. Wilma was briefly married and had two sons, Ted and Terry. Her second marriage, in 1947, to Thomas N Ragan, gave her two more children, Tony and Wanda. She then raised a family in the Yakima Valley while tending bees and fruit trees on the Congdon Orchard Ranch. She also devoted her life to studying biblical scripture with her church family at the Selah 7th Day Adventist church. Growing up during the Great Depression, Wilma learned the value of self reliance and hard-work. She could often be found outside, regardless of the weather, maintaining her 2+ acres of property all by herself well into her 9th decade. She was an skilled gardener, baker, & seamstress; wrote poetry; and would often demonstrate the art of yodeling which her family passed down from generation to generation. Wilma taught and touched so many people throughout her life and had so many friends that we couldn’t begin to list them all. She was loved so very much by so many and will be missed by all. Wilma is survived by her daughter, Wanda, 8 grandchildren, many great grandchildren, and 5 great-great-grandchildren. Her family will gather later this year at a family-favored mountain locale to memorialize her life. To order memorial trees or send flowers to the family in memory of Wilma Ragan, please visit our flower store.