William's cousin, Pastor Barbara Ragner Carver of Mebane, NC, informed us that William was single and a teacher in Baltimore, Md. He tragically died on March 29, 2002, when someone broke into his home, stole his paycheck he had received that day, and killed him.   Rev. Carver provided the obituary below.  The partial newspaper article was found online.

Newspaper article from archive: Teacher's death shocks many

Byrd, Earl
Baltimore Afro-American
04-12-2002
A community is still in shock today and saddened by the death of William M.
Ragner, a well-liked Baltimore schoolteacher and humanitarian who adopted a
son from foster care. Mr. Ragner may have made the mistake of allowing a
friend down on his luck to stay at his house. He was beaten to death in his
home and left tied in a chair shortly after midnight on Good Friday.

The crime scene was made to look like a break in, according to a source
close to the investigation, "but although a rear window was broken, Ragner
had to let the person in the front door because the back door had a
double-cylinder lock and not even a 10-year-old boy could have crawled….

(remainder of article obtainable only via paid search)