Roll Call Tribute

Published in Houston Chronicle from Nov. 20 to Nov. 23, 2014

Wallace Ragan(1918 - 2014)

Wallace Chauncey Ragan, Jr.
1918-2014
Wallace Chauncey Ragan, Jr., born in Houston, Texas, on the 4th of October 1918, passed away on Wednesday, the 19th of November 2014, at the age of 96.
He is predeceased by his wife, Mildred Jahn Ragan; his parents, Hon. Wallace C. "Walter" Ragan and Enid Campbell Ragan of Houston, Texas; his sister, Louise Ragan Parker and his brother-in-law Col. John U. Parker. He is survived by a large and loving family of friends and "non-blood relatives." 
Wally grew up in Woodland Heights, attending Travis Elementary and Hogg Junior High. He graduated from Sam Houston High School in 1936. Wally met the love of his life, Millie, while he was attending the Agricultural & Mechanical College of Texas (nowTexas A&M University), where Millie worked in the bookstore. After a brief break from school to work, make money, and buy a car so he could properly court Millie, Wally graduated Texas A.M.C. in January of 1942. Wally did not attend graduation because he was already on active duty following the bombing of Pearl Harbor a month earlier. After pilot training, Wally was commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant Pilot in the U.S. Army Air Corps. Hours after he was commissioned, Wally and Millie were married on the 14th of January 1943 in the Chapel of Brooks Field in San Antonio, Texas. Through World War II, Wally flew and trained pilots for BC-1 (Basic Combat) bomber airplanes. Wally and Millie then moved to Houston in 1946, where Millie worked at Chase Bank (retiring as an Assistant Vice President in 1984) and Wally had a long career as a corporate pilot for Reed Roller Bit and as a facilities manager for the Texas Research Institute of Mental Sciences. Wally and Millie enjoyed 69 years of marriage, leaning on each other and loving each other for a lifetime.
Wally was a loyal Texas Aggie, a Shriner, a 32° degree Mason, and 65-year member of the Woodland Masonic Lodge No. 1157. He was a member of the Briar Club and the Lynn Park Civic Association. Millie and Wally were members of Houston's First United Methodist Church for over 65 years.
Graveside services will be conducted at 2 o'clock in the afternoon on Friday, the 12th of December, at Bryan City Cemetery, 1111 N. Texas Avenue in Bryan Texas, where Wally's remains will be interred next to Millie's. 
In lieu of customary remembrances, Mille and Wally would love to be remembered by a donation to a charity of your choice .

Funeral Home

Geo. H. Lewis & Sons Funeral Directors
1010 Bering Drive Houston, TX 77057 
(713) 789-3005