Sylvia Schlagel Ragsdale

1934 -

Sylvia Ragsdale, an amateur poet and composer, resides in Indiana. From an early age she wrote poems that were characterized as having too much of a "sing-song" quality, but she later developed this musically rhythmic trait into the writing of actual songs, beginning in 1980, when she was in her forties.

Sylvia was born in Indiana, the oldest child of Frank and Dosia Schlagel. She attended Indiana Academy where she graduated in 1952. She completed a program in Professional Careers, Inc. in 1979.

Her composition “A New Communion,” published in 99 New Songs, a 2003 songbook compiled by Evelyn Pursley-Kopitzke, was performed at the Indiana Academy centennial celebration alumni weekend in 2002.

Sylvia and her late husband, Russell W. Ragsdale, Jr., both wrote poetry that she set to music.

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Sources: Biography in 99 New Songs; 1940 U. S. Federal Census Records; Russell W. Ragsdale, Jr., obituary (1937-2005).