She went to college at Eastern New Mexico College in Portales – quite unusual for a Texas girl in the 1940’s. She studied, hiked, painted and fell in love with the desert. While a graduate student, she met and married her husband of 29 years, James B. Ragland. As a working mother of three, she completed a PhD in Psychology. The family then spent three years in Cali, Colombia. Rae relished the unique culture there and worked with the world humanitarian organization, CARE.
Jim died when Rae was 50. She continued to seek new adventures – learned to fly and joined the 99’s club, showed poodles, canoed with her two oldest grandsons. She loved dance of all kinds, was a Master Gardener and a gifted artist. Never idle, Rae taught senior exercise and enjoyed yoga. She touched many lives, as a therapist helping people to reach their potential, and through years of volunteer work.
Rae, ever irreverent and colorful, will be remembered for her critical thinking, love for the vulnerable creatures of the planet, and dry wit. She was preceded in death by her parents, Duella and Walter Shields and her husband, James B. Ragland. She is survived by her daughter Randa Spears of Memphis; son Jeffery Ragland of Memphis; daughter Chara Ragland and husband John Gold of Durango, Colorado; grandson Drew Spears of Atlanta, Georgia; grandson Shane Spears and wife Hilary of St. Louis, Missouri; grandson Jeremy Gold of Durango, Colorado; granddaughter Jessica Gold of Davis, California; and grandchildren Elijah, Ariel, Shana Rae, Abigail, and Aaron Ragland of Lubbock, Texas.
A celebration of life will be held at 2 pm on Thursday, November 7, 2019 at Kirby Pines Chapel, 3535 Kirby Pkwy., Memphis, Tennessee. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in her name to either the The Nature Conservancy, Population Connection, or Xerces Society.
SHARE OBITUARY
v.1.8.18