Ragland-Patterson Family Receives First Families of Baylor Award
Members of the Ragland-Patterson family were recognized by the Baylor Alumni Association with the First Families of Baylor Award during a ceremony Sept. 23 at halftime of the Baylor-Army football game.
by Judy Prather, Baylor Alumni Association, (254) 710-6431
WACO, Texas - The Baylor Alumni Association presented the First Families of Baylor Award to the Ragland-Patterson family on Friday, Sept. 22, during Parents Weekend festivities. The family also was recognized during halftime of the Baylor-Army football game on Sept. 23 at Floyd Casey Stadium.
The annual First Families of Baylor Award has been presented for more than 25 years and recognizes a multi-generational alumni family that has shown continuing interest in and support of Baylor University. The list of families honored over the years reads like a "Who's Who" of Baylor history, including such names as McCall, Speight, Brooks, Burleson and Dillard.
Three generations of the Ragland-Patterson family have attended Baylor, and more than 50 family members are Baylor graduates.
The Ragland-Patterson family's connection to Baylor began in the 1920s, when the Ragland children (May Vaughn, Cecile, Madison and Hugh Mayo) and the Marshall children (Frank, Elizabeth, Jimmie and Ruth) all attended the university, graduating between 1924 and 1932.
Madison Ragland married Elizabeth Marshall, and their three children (Mary Ann, James and Sarah) also are Baylor graduates. Madison Ragland later served as a trustee of the university for 10 years during the 1960s.
Jimmie Marshall also married a Baylor graduate, Virginia Gallaway.
Other second-generation graduates include Blanche Henderson Brick, Mary Lou Ragland Davidson, William and Jerry Chastain Fenley, Margaret Fenley Ford, Craig and Nancy Camp Jackson, Frank and Darba Herndon Jackson, Jere Jackson, Jeannie Koonce, Frank B. Marshall, William F. Patterson, Dolores Patterson Roberts and C.A. Roberts Jr.
Third generation students include John Brick, Lois Jackson Carver, Steve and Jenifer Ford Crosby, Curt Fenley, William Fenley Ford, Carol Fenley Gilbert, Leslie Fenley Hicks, Amy Norris Jackson, Laura Jackson, Margaret Jackson, Marshall Jackson, Samuel Herndon Jackson and Worth Jackson.
Other third-generation Baylor graduates are Rebecca Jackson John, Cynthia Roberts Kuhn, Edward Patterson, James S. Patterson, Tom Patterson, William R. Patterson, Elizabeth Patterson Pruitt, Hugh Mayo Ragland III, C. A. Roberts III and Mary Jane Ford Tomlinson.
Scott and Stephanie Ragland are current students at the university, and several other family members attended Baylor but did not graduate.
The family has had a significant influence. In addition to strong civic involvement by members of the family, their ranks include physicians, lawyers, public school teachers, college professors, bankers and ministers, as well as those in medical research, the military and a variety of businesses.
"I don't think any of us thought about attending anywhere else," said Sarah Ragland Jackson. "We grew up surrounded by parents and aunts and uncles who deeply loved Baylor. It wasn't that we couldn't go to another school. It just never occurred to us to go anywhere else. The influence of Baylor on our family has been very great."
The First Families of Baylor award presentation was made during intermission at the 7 p.m. performance of After Dark in Waco Hall. A reception followed in the Hughes-Dillard Alumni Center on the Baylor campus.
The Baylor Alumni Association also presents eight other awards each year. For more information, contact the association at (254) 710-1121 or go to www.bayloralumni.com.