Ross Oliver Bragg

Ross grew up on the family farm near Era in rural north Texas. As a kid he discovered his mechanical genius while learning to work on various farm implements such as tractors and threshers. He earned an Associate’s Degree from Gainesville Junior College in 1953, and from that point Ross left the family farm to work as a typewriter mechanic, a career that he loved for more than 50 years, interrupted only by two years of U.S. Army service in West Germany in the late 1950s.

Not long after returning from West Germany, Ross married Sue Flowers in Gainesville, TX and they started their life together in Fort Worth, where Ross was working. Sue was the love of his life. By the mid-60s the family was complete with daughter Laura and son David. In the early 70s, Ross was doing well enough to buy a nice house in east Fort Worth, where he lived nearly 50 years to the end of his life.

When Ross wasn’t fixing typewriters and other office machines, he fixed everything else – cars, lawnmowers, kitchen appliances, things he picked up along the roadside or at garage sales – sometimes for himself, but many times for neighbors and his many friends. In the late 70s he acquired his first CB radio, taking on the only true hobby he ever had. He delighted in the camaraderie of the many friendships he made on the radio, many of which lasted the rest of his life. Inevitably, Ross started fixing radios, borrowing from his knowledge of office machine electronics. He did it for fun and for the challenge, but mostly for his friends.

As technology advanced, typewriters and other such mechanical office equipment were replaced by computers and software. When Ross retired in 2004, he was among the last of the skilled mechanics who kept American businesses running for so many decades.

Ross spent the first 10 years of his retirement caring for Sue, who was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s in 2005. After she passed away, Ross got back out into the neighborhood to meet the new generation of people living there, making new friends and helping them whenever he could. He stayed active nearly to the end, still doing yard work when he could and keeping in touch with friends and family.

Ross lived his life honorably, doing all he could to provide for his family and take care of his friends. Always ready with a kind word, a smile and a twinkle of his pale blue eyes, he loved people and always found the good in (nearly) everyone he met. He was a good man, and he will be sorely missed.

Ross was preceded in death in 2015 by Sue Bragg, with whom he shared a 55-year marriage. He is survived by his daughter Laura Daniel (Brad) of Fort Worth, his granddaughter Katie Daniel (Jeremy) and two great-grandchildren, who live in Florida; and his son David (Kate) of Montclair, New Jersey. Ross is also survived by his sisters Barbara Worley, of Tyler, TX and Wanda Boswell, of Watauga, TX; and his brother Phil Bragg (Kathy), of Stigler, OK. Ross is also survived by ten nieces and nephews, and many great friends.

In lieu of flowers, please make a donation to the charity of your choice.