Gleason Ragan
(June 25, 1921 – January 19, 2015)
Funeral services will be held at 10:00 a.m. Thursday, January 22, 2015 in Howe and Yockey Funeral Home, Shelbyville, IL with Rev. Dan Seibert officiating. Visitation will be from 5:00-7:00 p.m. Wednesday. Burial will be in Mt. Carmel Cemetery, Shelbyville, IL with military rites by the Shelby County Honor Guard. Memorials may be given to the Shelby County Honor Guard or the Wounded Warrior Project.
Gleason was born on June 25, 1921 in rural Clarksburg, Illinois, the son of Merritt E. and Carrie Dell Russell Ragan. He owned and operated Gleason Ragan Trucking before he went off to the war and started his business back up again when he returned. Gleason served in the U.S. Army in WW II from October 1942 to April 1945. He served under the command of General George Patton in the Normandy France Campaign, Rhineland Campaign, Ardennes Campaign “Battle of the Bulge” and Northern France Campaign. He was a Field Lineman-Combat Infantryman. He was wounded in July 1944 in France and again in January 1945 in Belgium. He received a Purple Heart with One Oak Leaf Cluster, Four Bronze Campaign Stars, European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Ribbon, Combat Infantryman Badge and a Good Conduct Medal.
Gleason was a member of V.F.W. Post #4829 and Roy Vanderpool American Legion Post #81 both in Shelbyville, IL. He was a caring person to all and had many friends. Gleason loved to talk, go out to eat and do things for people that might have been less fortunate than him. He was an avid blackberry picker and mushroom hunter.
He is survived by his brother, Gaylord Ragan of Shelbyville, IL; sisters, Freda Stanger of Independence, MO, and Gladys Price of Mt. Zion, IL; sister-in-law, Goldie Ragan of Shelbyville, IL; four nephews; six nieces; and many friends.
He was preceded in death by his parents; brothers, Noble and Ervil Ragan; sisters, Dorothy Rothrock and Alberta Ragan; niece, Susan Hightower; and nephew, Jim Rothrock.
Gleason’s family would like to thank Shelbyville Manor for all the care that he received and a special thanks to the nurses, who were so caring. Also, a thank you to his niece, Carol Davis, for all the love and help that she gave to Gleason while he was in the nursing home and to Carole Rothrock and her late husband , Jim Rothrock, for helping Gleason.
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