Grady Bryan Ragland

RESIDENT OF LONG BEACH FOR 89 YEARS PASSES PEACEFULLY

Grady Bryan Ragland, age 95, died of natural causes on February 7, 2017 in Seal Beach, California.

Grady is survived by his daughter Priscilla Hoge of Berkeley, California, his daughter Deborah Neibling-Lorbeer of Long Beach, California and his son Brian Ragland of Orange, California. He was preceded in death by his beloved wife of 70 years Dorothy Louise Ragland of Seal Beach, California and his son Grady Bruce Ragland of Arizona. He has six grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.

Grady was born on September 27, 1921 in Jackson County Tennessee to parents Vernon Ragland and Lena Brown. His family, including his brothers Kenneth and Murphy, moved to Long Beach when he was 6 years old. Grady graduated from Poly High School in Long Beach, California in 1939. He joined the Army at the onset of WWII and was assigned to the 302 Air Transport Unit stationed in London as a radio operator on a C47 air transport. After the war he met his future bride Dorothy at Pepperdine University, they married and built their first house in Westminster in 1949. In 1959 they moved to Long Beach to raise their family. He worked at the Long Beach Press Telegram for many years in the circulation department and later joined his brothers as a co-owner of Crest Motors on Long Beach Blvd. Eventually he joined Glenn Thomas Dodge as a manager for the remainder of his career.

Grady was a socially active man who was deeply involved in the Optimists Club, Rotary Club of Long Beach, the Pacific Rim Masonic Lodge #567, the Long Beach Yacht Club and Cornerstone Church. He was an avid bridge player, and enjoyed golfing, carpentry, photography, and traveling.