Memorial services for Helen June Harrison Ragsdale, 82, of Alba, will be held on Saturday, February 10, at 10:00 a.m., at Amazing Grace Fellowship Church, Alba. Pastor Jacob Chaffin will officiate under the direction of the church and family.
Mrs. Ragsdale died on January 23, 2024, in Tyler. She was born on January 6, 1942, in Winnsboro, to Ferrell Eugene and Ruby Ella Underwood Harrison.
She became the church pianist at Harmony Assembly of God when she was 12 years old. She graduated from Winnsboro High School in 1960 and married Arlon Ragsdale on February 8, 1963, in Winnsboro. They had three children. She followed Arlon as he ministered to churches. They moved back to the Alba and Wood County area in 1997. She was a member of the Assembly of God Church in Quitman, and also attended Cottonwood Assembly of God in Golden. She enjoyed cooking, keeping house and growing flowers.
After her children were grown, she enrolled in college classes and completed her degree in business at Southwestern Assemblies of God College. She worked for Child Protective Services in Greenville. She took the position of foster homes developer and adoption for Hunt and Rockwall counties. Her passion of service continued as she worked to develop successful homes for the children she had rescued n her prior years as a CPS worker. After she retired, she continued to work as a foster home developer on a contract basis. She embraced being retired, but looked for opportunities to provide service to other organizations.
Mrs. Ragsdale is survived by her husband of 60 years; two daughters, Terri Chaffin and husband Jackie of Alba and Junella Brown and husband Randy of Farmersville; sister, Mary Harrison of Longview; daughter-in-law, Sherry Ragsdale of Hughes Springs; nine grandchildren; eleven great-grandchildren; and numerous other relatives and friends.
She was preceded in death by her parents; and son, Hugh Ragsdale.