Grace Morhaim Ragins

June 21, 1934 - October 27, 2021

Grace Morhaim Ragins (1934 - 2021) Join the Ragins family as we honor Grace’s long life that was filled with love and ambition. Her story is one of remarkable vision and resilience. Grace was born in the tenements of the Lower East Side in New York City to Sephardic Jewish parents who immigrated from Greece and Turkey. She is predeceased by her brother, Victor. When she graduated from the High School for Performing Arts, in lieu of pursuing a job offer with the emerging Martha Graham Dance Company, she applied to college and decided to travel alone to Southern California to “pursue a better life.” Earning what she could at odd jobs, including singing for meals in downtown Los Angeles, she graduated college at USC and was admitted to UCLA Law School where she met Lee Ragins, her future husband, and love of her life. They married in June 1959 when they both graduated. Pursuing a career as an attorney while raising a family became her lifelong passion. In addition to a private practice that she managed single-handedly from her bedroom in the San Fernando Valley, she devoted most of her legal talents to representing children and families involved with the Los Angeles Children’s Court. As a Spanish-speaking female attorney and mother herself, she was a favored appointee to represent both children and parents. Grace was exceptionally proud of being a mother. She had four sons and a daughter within 9 years. Unusual for the time, she insisted on natural childbirth, exclusively nursing, and maximizing the family’s time outdoors, always together. Starting with her honeymoon, Grace loved exploring the natural and cultural wonders of the world throughout her life - preferably with family in tow.  Grace and Lee planned camping trips, performing arts, and museum outings for almost every day off school. Relying initially on a station wagon and a tent trailer, and eventually a motorhome, they took longer and longer road trips to Canada, Mexico, Guatemala, and across the United States to every National Park they could fit in their itineraries. In 1976, the family flew to Europe where they traveled for two months in a camper. Her world travels continued for the next 40+ years and well into retirement. Her curiosity and love of adventure led her to visit more than 75 countries around the world by the end of her life in an endless pursuit to see and experience everything the world had to offer (and share it with those she loved most). Grace defined being a homemaker as always having an open door for extended family and friends, hosting every holiday and birthday, balancing generosity with impressive efficiency and time management. The longer the table, the more she enjoyed the challenge. She also made room for every imaginable pet, who often joined the family trips. In 1982, Grace and Lee met another lifelong goal of moving to a treasured home in Westwood, Los Angeles. Living a couple of blocks from the UCLA campus, 4 out of their 5 children graduated from the (world-renowned) school down the street. From Westwood, they continued to work, care for grandchildren, travel the world, and enjoy life side by side. Grace is dearly missed by her husband Lee, children Mark (Terry), Alan (Mary), Laura (Glenn), Glen (Kelly) and Earl (TJ), grandchildren Kyle (Isabel), Matthew, Jamie, Max, Ann, Ethan, Aleksander, Sofie, Hudson, and great-grandchild Gael. She would want us to celebrate her life and accomplishments by remembering to enjoy every moment.