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Dr. Vera Alice Ragland-Gardner, PhD, died in her sleep Feb. 20, 2010, in Littleton, Colo.

Born in Pocahontas, Ill., on Aug. 4, 1925, she was the daughter of the late Paul Maynard and Mabel Minnie (Childerson) Ragland.

When she was 4 years old the family moved to Grover, Colo. She started school at a small country school, West Pawnee, just west of Grover. The rest of her schooling through high school was at Grover, graduating high school in 1943. She graduated from Colorado State College of Education in Greeley, Colo., now known as University of Northern Colorado in 1947. She earned her master’s degree at Iowa State University in 1954 and her Doctorate in Sociology at the University of Connecticut in 1999.

She traveled extensively as a delegate to the International Home Economist as a voting delegate for the state of Illinois. Switzerland, Japan, Italy, Puerta Rico, Africa, Asia, Germany, Holland, Ireland, and Mexico were a few of the places she visited; making the trip to Africa twice. She was always interested in the cultures and education where she traveled. Seeing a need, she sent books to a school in Africa to start a library for them.

She is survived by her son, Franklin James Gardner II of Cheyenne; her daughter, Karen A. McElhaney of Littleton, Colo.; a sister, Juanita Warren of Cheyenne; a brother, Dean (Jean) Ragland of Pine Bluffs; 11 grandchildren; six great-grandchildren; a brother-in-law, Norman Wieclaw of Kent, Ohio; and numerous nieces and nephews.

In addition to her parents, she was preceded in death by her husband, Franklin James Gardner; and two sisters, Geneva Mae Ragland and Hazel Farris.

Services were held at First Christian Church, Cheyenne, on March 1, with Rev. Kurt Borgaard officiating. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to the International Federation of Home Economists (IFHR-US), or the church or charity of the donors choice.