Elder Ralph Leon Jeffery

Elder Ralph Leon Jeffery

In the evening hours of February 16, 2024, Ralph Leon Jeffery, age 90, was called home to his eternal resting place, after a sudden decline in his health.

Ralph Leon Jeffery, was born April 5, 1933, in Gilmer, Texas to the parentage of the late Knob and Elvira McClung Jeffery. He attended Valley View High School in Gilmer, Texas. Mr. Jeffery was baptized at the Valley View Baptist Church and accepted Christ as his Lord and Savior later in life, under Elder Tobbler at Wheatly Church of God in Christ in Dallas, TX.

In 1954, he joined in matrimony, the love of his life, Dorothy Hollins Jeffery of Gilmer, Texas, in this union seven children were born. Ralph was a devoted husband for 64 years and a loving father until his death. Mr. Jeffery was called to the ministry where he served as Elder of Arlington COGIC for 10 years. He also served as Associate Pastor to Greater Saint James Non-Denominational Church in Dallas, TX.

Although Ralph lived in the city of Grand Prairie, he was a “country boy” at heart, and enjoyed working with his hands and spending time in the country, Gilmer, Texas, where he enjoyed gardening, tending to his farm animals, and other agriculture related activities. He also enjoyed family gatherings and looked forward to the family’s annual Juneteenth celebration, where family could fellowship and enjoy each other’s company, until his health declined.

Elder Jeffery began working in 1951 at Austin Bro. Steel Company and in 1952, he began working for Sears for seven years. He was employed in 1968 by the Missouri Pacific Railroad, whose name later changed to Union Pacific Railroad, where he retired after 25 years of dedicated service. After retiring from the railroad, he started an independent railroad contracting business, DBA, Jeffery Railway Labor Force, until 1999, where he provided employment for many workers in the Dallas/Fort Worth metroplex. Ralph’s business, Jeffery Railway Labor Force, is documented in the book entitled, “Tarantula Project Fort Worth and Western Railroad”, for their historic role in successfully completing a 31-day task of laying tracks in only 15 days. The Tarantula Project, which linked downtown Fort Worth, the Stockyards Historic District, the city-owned cultural district, and the zoo in Forest Park influenced the Fort Worth tourist industry.

He is preceded in death by his parents, Knob and Elvira McClung Jeffery; spouse, Dorothy Hollins Jeffery; sisters, Donnie Lee Johnson-McKnight, Rosie Lee Turner, and Mary Smith; brothers,  Rudolph Jeffery, Noddie D. Jeffery, Lorenza Jeffery, Charles Lindberg Jeffery, Isaiah Jeffery, and Cornelius Jeffery. 

He leaves to cherish his memories one living sister, Christine Jeffrey Crowe; seven children, Sandra Pursley (David), Beverley Sheppard, Cynthia Jordan (Searcy), Rachel Bennett (Lorenza), Charlotte Jacobs (Lionel), Ralph Jeffery, Jr. (Gail), and Arthur Jeffery (Lesonia); 19 grandchildren, 29 great-grandchildren, and a host of nieces, nephews, great nieces, and great nephews.

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