Wendell "Ben" Harvey Ragan Jr.

November 15, 1954 — December 03, 2023

Wendell Ragan

Service Details

Wendell Harvey Ragan Jr. (Ben), 69, of Mitchellville, IA gained his angel wings on Sunday, December 3rd, 2023 due to health complications post spinal surgery in Minneapolis, MN, with his family by his side. Ben was born November 15th, 1954 to Wendell and Mary Ragan in Kirksville, MO.

Ben grew up in Farrar, IA, where he graduated from Bondurant Farrar High School in 1973. Ben joined the Air Force after high school where he served time in the Okinawa during the end of the Vietnam war. After returning home from the Air Force Ben spent lots of time enjoying and living his life, and began his career at Bridgestone Firestone where he worked for 37 years until he retired in 2014.

On November 22nd, 1986 Ben married his soul mate Joan Clark whom he met through mutual friends. Ben and Joan became each other’s better half instantly and had 2 children, Jeff and Laura. Ben enjoyed living his life and being happy with the little joys of life like camping, being a survivalist, collecting knives, wrestling, Volkswagen vans, thrifting, family bonfires, exploring the Rocky Mountains among many other National Parks across the southwest, hitchhiking across Alaska with friends, and he especially loved Mesa Verde National Park. Ben was a very creative, artistic, happy go lucky kind of guy that you would find humming or whistling a tune or singing a song almost any day, especially on Sunday mornings cooking breakfast, he would always sing “Zip a dee do dah” to his kids as it was always a ‘zip a dee do dah’ kind of day.

Ben is survived by and will be greatly missed by his wife Joan, children: Jeff, Laura (Mark) and granddaughter Ruby. Siblings: Russ (Teri), Kevin (Connie), Kenny (Marylin), Marlene, and Janet (Darrell). Nieces and Nephews: Kevin Jr (Heather), Nick, Matt (Stephanie), Amanda (Tank), Andrew (Rylee), Jeni (Kenny), Tiffany (Drew), Eric (Laura), Mark, and 12 great nieces and 1 great nephew. Ben is also survived by 1 Uncle Bob (Deb) Ragan. He will also be missed by many chosen family members and “bonus” kids.

Ben is proceeded in death by his parents Wendell H Ragan Sr and Mary Ragan, In-laws Ruby and Clarence Clark, Grandparents Charlie and Elma Ragan and William (Carl) and Adra James.
We as a family want give a very special thank you to the Abbott Northwestern Hospital Neuro ICU nurses and care team, along with the surgical team for all their love, compassion, and care for Ben and our family during his last couple weeks.

Family will greet guests on Monday, December 11, 2023 from 5:00-8:00pm at Hamilton’s Mitchellville Funeral Home, 303 Center Ave South, Mitchellville, Iowa. Funeral service will be at 10:00 a.m., on Tuesday, December 12, 2023 at the funeral home.

Online condolences may be expressed at www.HamiltonsFuneralHome.com.

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