LOUISE BALLERSTEDT RAGGIO

1919-2011

Known as the “Mother of Family Law in Texas,” Louise Ballerstedt Raggio was also known as mentor, civil rights activist, champion for the rights of women and children, mother, grandmother and great-grandmother.

Louise was born on June 15, 1919 and died on January 23,2011.  She grew up on a black dirt cotton farm 20 miles east of Austin.  She was the only child of Hilma Lindgren and Louis Ballerstedt who were children of Swedish and German immigrants.  Her parents’ modest education and economic circumstances did not stop them from supporting their daughter through Austin High School, where she was valedictorian, and the University of Texas in Austin, where she graduated second in her class.  Upon graduation from college Louise won a Rockefeller Fellowship to Washington, D. C.  She always treasured this year of work and study as one of the best years of her life.  Upon the completion of her fellowship, she returned to Texas and met and married Grier Henry Raggio, her husband of  47 years until his death in 1988.  Louise is survived by her three sons, Grier Jr. and wife Lorraine, Tom and wife Janice, Ken and wife Patty, seven grandchildren and six great grandchildren. 

Louise had many firsts.  She was only woman in her class at the  SMU School of Law,  the first woman criminal assistant district attorney in Dallas County, the first Chairwoman of the Texas Family Law Section, the first woman Director of the Texas Bar, and the first chairwoman of the Texas Bar Foundation.  Her most satisfying professional accomplishment was her leadership in the reform of Texas Property laws that gave married women the right to own property, the first step in the massive reform of Texas family law that has become the Texas Family Code.  In honor of her dedication in both civil and legal matters, she has been the recipient of local, state, and national awards, some of which bear her name.

Louise was committed to her profession, but she was equally committed to her family. The deep love, devotion and respect felt by her family is the result of that commitment.  We will always remember the home cooked meals, the vegetables from your garden, and your wonderful sense of humor.  As a friend has said, “she did so much because she didn’t know she couldn’t.”

Contributions can be made in her memory to the Louise Raggio Lecture Series at the SMU Dedman School of Law, or to the Memorial and Endowment Fund of the First Unitarian Church.

Louise's family is deeply appreciative of the overwhelming outpouring of love and support from friends, neighbors, and colleagues, and continue to receive touching personal remembrances from clients, from adult children of former clients, from members of the legal community, and from the larger community where her presence is still being felt.

Links to videos others have done about Louise's life and accomplishments such as http://www.kera.org/trailblazer  (29 min) and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mTW_tXQEvuE  (8 min)

The Dallas Morning News article on January 24th is here.

The  video of her memorial service is here.  The file is large; it's probably  best to start play, and then pause the video early to let the video download more completely if you want to jump to a particular portion.  (It is also broken down be broken down into smaller portions, shown below)

A rough index  of the whole memorial is:
0:00  Overview of sanctuary, music, family comes in
5:00  Rev. Daniel Kanter & Affirmation & Doxology
10:55  Janice Raggio (second segment)
25:20  Julie Raggio (third Segment)
25:20  Grier Raggio  (fourth segment)
33:30  Bono's "MLK" performed by Don Kriebel & Choir
36:00  Vivian Castleberry  (fifth segment)
45:00  "Hold On" performed by Choir
47:20  Eulogy by Rev. Kanter (sixth segment)
58:15  Prayer of Thanksgiving by Rev. White
1:01:00  America the Beautiful & pan of sanctuary
1:04:20  Music & Recessional(sic)

Links to the Six Segments:

First    Second    Third     Fourth    Fifth    Sixth