Memorial services for Mary Childress Lowry Ragsdale, affectionately known as “Muggins” by her family and friends, 76, of Greenville will be at 11:00 a.m., Friday, October 26, 2012 at St. James Episcopal Church. She passed away peacefully on Sunday, October 21, 2012 at Magnolia Gardens, Greenville. Burial will be at 11:00 a.m., Saturday, October 27, 2012 in Magnolia Cemetery in Collierville, TN. Arrangements are under the direction of Boone Funeral Home, Greenville. Mary was born on May 23, 1936 in Memphis, TN. She was the daughter of Mary Arthur Childress Lowry and William Minnis Lowry, Sr. She grew up in Greenville and graduated from E. E. Bass High School. She attended Mississippi State College for Women (the W) in Columbus. She was a former maid in the Memphis Cotton Carnival. She chose a profession as a flight attendant for Braniff Airlines and was based in Dallas, TX where she met and married George M. Ragsdale. They moved to Cambridge, MA and later to Houston, TX where her three children were born. She later became a realtor in Houston, TX and then moved back to Greenville. She was a member of the DAR (Daughters of the American Revolution). She loved to cook and had a fondness for animals, especially cats and dogs. She was preceded in death by her parents and her younger son, Scott McKissick Ragsdale. She is survived by a son, Tom Marshall Ragsdale of Midland, TX and a daughter, Lowry Anne Ragsdale Benz of Houston, TX; four grandchildren, Hunter Scott Benz (Houston), Elizabeth Emery Ragsdale, George Marshall Ragsdale and Abby Lynn Ragsdale (Kansas City); a brother, William M. Lowry, Jr. (Margaret) of Fayetteville, AR and a niece, Meg Lowry Mitchell, a nephew, William Lowry III, and numerous cousins. The family will receive friends from 10:00-11:00 a.m., Friday, October 26, 2012 at St. James Episcopal Church. In lieu of flowers, the family is asking that remembrances be made to a charity of your choice or The Scott McKissick Ragsdale Memorial Fund, c/o YoungLife Foundation, P. O. Box 520, Colorado Springs, CO 80901-0520 or Magnolia Gardens @1644 S. Colorado, Greenville, MS 38703.
