Carroll High School
Athletic Hall of Fame

James Arthur Ragan was born with many blessings. He was blessed with a kind heart that won him countless friends, with parents and an older sister who nurtured him and taught him right from wrong, with a warm extended family that cared for him and supported him from birth, with a quick mind that allowed him to excel as a student, becoming salutatorian of his high school and gaining admission to Rice University, with an indefatigable affinity for hard work, and finally, with physical abilities that, combined with hard work, allowed him success at many sports, including playing golf for the Rice Owls. Calamitously, he also had Osteosarcoma, a form of pediatric bone cancer. At the age of 13 it stuck him like an arrow through the heart, robbing him of all he had dreamt and built over those 13 years, leaving him with only a kind heart, a good mind, a tireless work ethic and a loving family. Like a mythical hero, he refused to be bested by the attack. He pulled the arrow from his body and wielded it in his own furious battle against cancer.

From the age of 14, he spoke continuously about the ravages of pediatric cancer on children and families and the absence of progress in treatment. He spent time holding the hands of other children dying of cancer and comforting them in their last days. He helped every organization he could, from Sunshine Kids, where he served on the board, to M.D. Anderson, where he served as Special Ambassador, to lobbying congress for funding for pediatric cancer research. Unsatisfied with those efforts, he and his sister founded the Triumph Over Kid Cancer Foundation which partnered with M.D. Anderson to form the Children’s Sarcoma Initiative through which the funds raised by TOKC are matched by M.D. Anderson Children’s Cancer Hospital and administered by a committee to fund the most promising research into cures for pediatric cancers. James knew that the wound inflicted on him was fatal, and that his efforts at a cure would provide him no benefit. Yet he fought on tirelessly in the hope that Pediatric Cancer would end with him. James’ earthly body passed away on February 17th 2014 at the age of twenty, but his spirit lives on in our hearts and in heaven.