Thomas B. Ragle

Thomas B. Ragle, 96, of Guilford Vermont, passed peacefully after a long and extraordinary life surrounded by family on November 28, 2023.

He was a poet, educator, philosopher, and perennial seeker of answers to life’s most thorny questions. He will be remembered by many as the President of Marlboro College for 23 years and by countless others as the patriarch of a family that knew no boundaries. Joining was simply a matter of wanting to be a member.

Born on November 25, 1927, Tom was the son of Dr. Benjamin Harrison Ragle and Marguerite Williams Ragle, late of Boston MA. His siblings include his late brothers, Richard H. Ragle and John W. Ragle and his late sister Jane R. Robbins.

He was married to his beloved wife, Nancy Koch Ragle for 58 years. Together they raised their children Kathy Wilde Clark (Richard), Bill Koch (Kate), Melendy Koch Fabian (Kevin), Robin Ragle-Davis (Carter), Fritz Koch (Hiroko), Tim Ragle (Susan), and the late, much loved, Elizabeth Koch Graham (Scott). He had thirteen grandchildren and seven great grandchildren and was able to keep close track of every single one.

In the “no boundaries” family countless others merit special mention but doing so might accidentally leave someone off the list. All were much beloved, and he kept close watch and proffered fatherly advice to each.

Tom Ragle graduated from Shady Hill, the Phillips Exeter Academy, Harvard College with an A.B in ancient Greek history and literature, as well as Oxford University with a B.A. and M.A, in English language and literature. These experiences sparked a love of education that would inform the rest of his life as well as many decades championing the value of a liberal arts education. He believed liberal arts provided the solid foundation upon which a thoughtful and ethical life depended.

Tom began his professional career teaching English at Exeter Academy. After serving in the Army he went on to serve as President of Marlboro College for 23 years (1958-1981), From 1981-83 he served as visiting professor and special assistant to the president at the University of Vermont, from 1983-89 as director of the Salzburg Seminar in Austria, from 1989-91 as special consultant to the United Nations Development Program in Beijing, China, and finally as a visiting professor and special assistant to the president of Trinity College in Burlington, Vermont before retiring to the family's 1780 farm in Guilford, Vermont in 1993.

He was an active member and leader of many charitable, community, educational and ecclesiastical organizations including Write Action, Guilford Community Church, Vermont Higher Education Council, Vermont Council on the Humanities, Board of Bar Examiners, Governors Commission on Education (VT), Vermont Higher Education Planning Commission, New England Association of Schools and Colleges, Commission on Institutions of Higher Education, Vermont Foundation of Independent Colleges, The Crosby Foundation, The Stowe School and The Brattleboro Music Center among others.

His strongest desire was always to write poetry, releasing For Family and Friends and then the positively reviewed Take This Song under the pen name Lee Bramble.

In “No Death, No Life”, he had this to offer:

“Strange that we have no verb for being dead,

the adjective only. ‘Dies’ has an end,

and ‘dying’ too, like ‘ending’ has an end.

Yet nothing ends. It merely changes form.

Why in our language if not in our faith

do we yield, assume such finality?

We can’t invent a verb, an active verb?

A memorial service celebrating Toms life will be held at Guilford Community Church, Guilford VT on Monday December 18 at 1:30 PM. The service will be livestreamed and can be viewed at the following link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6XA8cnkQ9Uc.

Donations in his name may be made to The Brattleboro Music Center or The Brattleboro Art Museum.