By Dr. John Warren, Publisher
Employees of the Anderson-Ragsdale Mortuary, which has served San Diego’s African American community since 1956, were told last week that the business will be closing as of July 31, 2023. This statement was made by the current owner, the widow of Hartwell ‘Skipper” Ragsdale, III who died in 2018 leaving the family business to his wife. Word of this pending closure hit the Black community like an unexpected death in the family. The mortuary has been the oldest Black business in San Diego and an institution in and of itself.
Mr. Ragsdale, II came to San Diego with his late wife, Hazel, in 1955. At the time, a Black mortician by the name of Anderson owned the only Black funeral home in San Diego. He died without family and Mr. Ragsdale purchased the funeral home from his estate. Mr. Ragsdale later said that because Mr. Anderson was so well liked, he decided to keep his name on the business and hence named it Anderson-Ragsdale Mortuary.
But Mr. Ragsdale was more than a Mortician. He joined the late Dr. Jack Kimbrough, a dentist, in fighting the Restrictive Covenants in San Diego which blocked where Black people purchased a home at the time. This was before the Supreme Court struck down the provisions. He was at the forefront of establishing the San Diego Urban League. He was an active member of the Catfish Club, and he was a friend of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and could be seen with him on one of King’s visits to San Diego. The Mortuary was involved in and the transfer recipient of the body of Mrs. Coretta Scott King when she died in Tijuana, Mexico when she died there while receiving cancer treatment.
Hartwell “Skipper” Ragsdale, III carried on the family business after the death of his father. He and his late sister grew up here in San Diego. His mother, Mrs. Hazel Ragsdale, was a respected member of the community until her death. Derrick Ragsdale, the son of “Skipper” Ragsdale is the remaining member of the family but has no legal interest in the family business.
There is an issue of public concern and that is the pre-need trust funds with the mortuary that is estimated to be a million plus dollars. Those plans through insurance companies like NGL are portable and can be moved to whatever mortuary the owner or holder of the policies desires at time of need. So the closure will not impact those policies. This is the last week of scheduled services and incoming calls will be referred probably to other Black mortuaries in the community. There has been no announcement of sale of property or equipment. Mrs. Ragsdale says she has not had a chance to reach out to other mortuaries in the community yet and is expected to do so.
