Mary Elizabeth " Mez" Ragsdale

Mary Elizabeth “Mez” Divine Ragsdale, of Timonium, Md., died at Gilchrist Hospice in Towson, Md., of congestive heart failure on January 26, 2020. She was born May 7, 1920, in New York City, the daughter of William Parker Divine and Effie Brown Divine, of Spring Lake, N.J. Mez grew up in Spring Lake, where she maintained close ties with family and friends throughout her long life. After graduating from Asbury Park High School in 1938, she attended Bucknell University in the class of 1942 and the Berkeley Secretarial School. She worked as a secretary at Fort Monmouth during World War II and for a law firm in Asbury Park. In 1948, she married Marshall “Buzz” Ragsdale, of East Orange, N.J., who died in 2013. They moved frequently with his corporate job in the 1950s and ‘60s before settling in Timonium, Md., in 1969. For many years, they spent much of their time at their house in Spring Lake. In the 1980s and ‘90s, Mez worked as a secretary for Town Marketing, a direct mail marketing firm, owned by her husband and their son, Tom, in Timonium.

Mez had a passion for creating a loving home and nurturing her family. She was known for her encyclopedic memory, and was a trusted resource for anecdotes and history, especially that related to the Brown and Divine families in Spring Lake. Mez was an avid reader, and loved to knit, sew, and play bridge. Incredibly intuitive, her sharp and witty retorts always brought smiles to those around her. Mez’s loving and resilient spirit will be fondly remembered and carried in the hearts of all who knew her.

Mary Elizabeth is survived by her three children: Lynn Salvo, and her husband Anthony of Berwyn, Pa.; Bruce Ragsdale, and his partner Richard Scobey of Washington, D.C., and Tom Ragsdale, and his wife Lynn of Timonium, Md. She is also survived by six grandchildren: Ashley Isaacs Ganz, Jeffrey Isaacs, Jonathan Isaacs, Matt Ragsdale, Jamie Noyes, and Becky McCauley; eight great-grandchildren: Rory, Schuyler, Nate, Lucas, James, Brooks, Peyton, and Ridgely; three nephews; and her faithful caregivers, Valerie Walker and Jasmine Gilmore.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the Spring Lake, N.J., Community House at https://www.springlaketheatre.com/makeagift