BROOKS AND SUZANNE RAGEN
BROOKS RAGEN
Brooks Ragen embraced roles of business and civic leadership. Brooks co-founded two investment firms, Cable Howse & Ragen in 1982 which incorporated into Ragen MacKenzie in 1987, and McAdams Wright Ragen in 1999. Brooks led the successful merger of McAdams Wright Ragen with Robert W. Baird & Co in 2014. He served as board president of many Seattle institutions, including ACT Theatre, The Bush School, The Seattle Foundation, Seattle Bond Club, UW Medicine, Seattle Cancer Care Alliance and the Seattle Art Museum. He also served on the boards of the Washington chapter of the Nature Conservancy, the Bloedel Reserve and The High Desert Museum in Bend, Oregon. UW Medicine named their outstanding service award after Brooks. He was a Sterling Fellow at Yale and a devoted alumnus. Two years ago, Brooks received the Rupple Citzenship Award, given to the Baird associate who demonstrates the highest level of commitment to his or her community. Brooks passed away in 2018.
SUZANNE RAGEN
Suzanne Ragen was born in Czechoslovakia, escaping Hitler to come to the United States with her family in 1939. Her father was a professor at Reed College in Portland, Oregon. She graduated from Mills College in 1958 and has completed course work at the University of Washington for a Master's degree in art history. Suzanne married Portlander Brooks Ragen in 1958 and after 3 years in New York City, she and Brooks moved to Seattle in 1963. She has been a touring docent at the Seattle Art Museum since 1965 where she founded the Art Beyond Sight program that offers tours to visitors with vision and hearing loss. She has served on and is currently serving on several community boards. Suzanne and her late husband Brooks have 3 children and 9 grandchildren.