Ben Patrick Ragusa Jr.

Ben P. Ragusa, Jr attended Sacred Heart Elementary School and Baton Rouge High School. He played baseball and football, until all the other guys were bigger than he was. As a young child, Ben worked in his father’s grocery store, eventually working as a butcher in the store.

Ben Jr left high school and enlisted in the Navy, earning his high school diploma while at sea. Ben Jr was stationed on aircraft carriers as a flight deck signal man. He spent months at sea In the Cuban blockade. Ben was on shore leave in Norfolk, VA when President Kennedy was assassinated…The chaos of MP’s rounding up ALL the sailors in the bars and establishments in Norfolk and the resulting flood of ships leaving the docks with or without tugboat assistance was surreal.

Ben returned to Baton Rouge and opened his own neighborhood grocery store. Ben met Patti Thomas on a blind date and told her that he was going to marry her at the end of their first date.

Ben started to look for a sales career. IBM and Xerox both wanted to hire him, but required a college degree, both offered to pay for the education. Ben could not take time to go to school; he had a growing family to support. Ben took an Interview with a company called Lanier. The opportunity sounded right! Ben accepted the copier sales job with Lanier in late 1967. Ben quickly became the #2 sales rep for Lanier in the U.S., he never could beat Chuck Foreman, in Florida, they became great friends. Ben ascended the ranks of Lanier winding up at the Atlanta HQ in the fall of 1977. Ben eventually left the company as Exec VP of Worldwide Sales (#3 in the Company).

In 1988, Ben and George DeBenedetto founded OMNI Business Products, a Toshiba copier dealer, in Atlanta. Jeff dropped out of LSU to Join the family business and Ed Doyle left Lanier and moved from New Jersey to Join OMNI.

In 1994, Ben sold OMNI to Toshiba and Ben, Ed, & Jeff founded Applied Business Concepts, (ABC) in Baton Rouge and New Orleans. ABC now employs over 30 people and operates in all of South Louisiana with locations in Baton Rouge, Kenner, and Lafayette.

Ben supported Cure SMA, Tunnel to Towers, Folds of Honor, Wounded Warrior Project, Samaritan’s Purse, St. Jude Hospital, and The Cannata Gala, as well as several Local Charities, Churches, and Schools.

Ben is preceded in death by his Beloved Wife, of 59 years, Patricia Thomas Ragusa. His Parents: Ben P Ragusa, Sr and Mary Ann Grasso Ragusa. His Siblings: Peter Anthony Ragusa and Angie Ann Ragusa Cates. Ben is Survived by His Siblings: Phillip Manuel Ragusa and Myrtle Jean Ragusa David. His Children: Jeffrey Wayne Ragusa, Sr (57) and Stephanie Ragusa Charpentier (54) His Grandchildren: Madeline (28), Elizabeth (28), Jeffrey, Jr (27), Patricia (26), & Megan (24).

Relatives and friends are invited to Sacred Heart Catholic Church on Wednesday, January 7, 2026 for a visitation beginning at 10:00 AM until a Mass of Christian Burial at 11:00 AM followed by a committal service at Resthaven Gardens of Memory.