Please find a special tribute from Martha's daughter, Angela, below:
"On Thursday, October 8 around 1:30 am, my beautiful, sweet mama, Martha Jane (Ragle) Gagnon, went to her eternal Heavenly home after a brief, brave battle with multiple myeloma. She was 78 years young.
I am so grateful to God I could be by her side, holding her hand, and that she was surrounded by precious family and dear friends during her final days. Mama loved her family and friends more than anything in this world, and there's no doubt in my mind she was thrilled that she could bring them all together. We were shocked that Jesus took her so soon, but she always was in a hurry. By the grace of God, she got her final wish: she didn't suffer long and passed away at home.
No words can convey what this precious lady meant to me. She told me that after she married my dad, Major Ray Bailey, she wanted a baby girl so badly, but the doctors told her she couldn't have children. As she did so often in her life, she proved the naysayers wrong. For many years, it was just Mom and I on our own. We fought hard, we forgave, we had each other's back, and we loved each other fiercely. For most of my life, she was more than my mom, she was my best friend. Mama told me just a few weeks ago: "You are my constant." And she was mine.
Thank you, Mama, for teaching me to be a strong, independent woman; for always making me laugh; for showing me how to laugh at myself; for never missing a dance or drama performance in school; for supporting my travel dreams; for singing to me more times than I can count; for showing me how to work hard; for providing for me as a single mom; for putting me through college by yourself; for showing me how to be gracious to others; for being content with feline grandchildren; for showing me how to be brave and stick up for myself; and for being there for me no matter what.
Mama loved Jesus, her family, her friends, her garden, and her cats most in this world. She had a generous soul, the spirit of a giver. She loved meeting people, travelling, giving gifts, listening to stories, and making people smile. She could crochet faster than anyone I've ever seen, was a wonderful cook, had a green thumb that would make anyone envious, and could look at anything and remake it without a pattern, the best seamstress I've ever known. She found joy in dressing up, collecting photographs and pretty shiny things, singing old church hymns, teasing her twin brother, and proving she could do anything that anyone said she couldn't. She was fiercely independent, extremely stubborn, and the strongest woman I know. When she received her terminal cancer prognosis, she turned to me and said, "I'm not sad, it is what it is. I've had a good life."
Mama was so proud of her 26-year career as a budget officer for the US Army Corps of Engineers. After retiring in 2004, she enjoyed volunteering at the hospital with the babies, petsitting, entertaining friends and family, supporting charities and organizations in the DFW area, road trips with her daughter, tending her beautiful yard, spoiling her numerous feline children, and travelling the world with her beloved late companion, Major Tom Spencer. She joins him, my dad, her parents, Reuben and Josie Ragle, and 6 siblings: Truett, James, Marilyn, Bud, Dwayne, and twin brother, Ronnie. In fact, she and her twin brother both passed away at the same time of day, 5 years apart. Though she may have gone a minute before just to beat him. She is survived by her daughter Angela Bailey, sister Wanda Moran, sister-in-laws Mary Ragle and Jimmie Ragle, brother-in-law Dugan Warren, numerous nieces and nephews, and kitties Gigi, Cherie Elizabeth, and Sheba.
As promised for those who believe in Him, God has prepared a room for her and given her the Ultimate Healing. She is no longer in pain, and is rejoicing with her family and two loves in Heaven. This is not goodbye, it is only "See you, later." ♥️
"Don't cry because it's over, smile because it happened." ~ Dr. Seuss."
A viewing (wake) will be held on Saturday, October 17, 2020 from 9:00am to 9:45am in the South Chapel of Moore Funeral Home on Davis Road in Arlington, Texas. A funeral service will be held on Saturday, October 17, 2020 at 10:00am in the South Chapel of Moore Funeral Home on Davis Road in Arlington, Texas.
In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to either the Texas Scottish Rite Hospital for Children, the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, or the Alzheimer's Association.
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