Mary Ellen Ragsdale Nursing Scholarship

This endowment was established in memory of John’s first wife, Mary Ellen Ragsdale, to provide financial assistance to selected student. John Ragsdale grew up in Humble, Texas and had a happy youth with family and friends. He entered Sam Houston State Teachers College in the fall of 19 54 and pledged “The Caballeros” (now Sigma Chi) in the fall semester of 1955. In 1959, he graduated with a Bachelor of Business Administration in General Business and a commission in the US. Army. During his time in the Army, John served two years as an officer on a Nike Hercules Missile base. He was discharged in 1968 and retired from the Reserves as a captain. Mary Ellen (Mintzas) Ragsdale received her nursing degree in 1960 from the Buffalo General Hospital Nursing School in Buffalo, New York. As a nurse she worked off and on throughout her entire life. At a young age and just out of nursing school she and John married. The young couple moved to Houston, Texas in 1961 and began to raise a family of two daughters, Georgia, who was born in 1961, and Laura, who was born in 1967. During Mary Ellen’s career she worked many jobs within the nursing field. Mary Ellen was most known for her energetic, irreverent wit and playful personality. She loved making people laugh and feel better. What Mary Ellen Ragsdale would love most about this scholarship is that it gives a deserving young person the opportunity to launch a career they can practice throughout their lifetime in many different business settings and in any city, town or rural location in the nation. Nurses are always needed. She would want this winning candidate to know that the joy of life is found in helping other people and in reaching out 10 them, taking the first step to tell a funny or put them at ease, bring a little smile.