Heart O' the Hills Director, Owners

Jane was a camper at Mystic, Fern and Heart O’ the Hills as a girl, and was on the staff at both Mystic and The Heart prior to becoming a Heart owner. She is past president of the Camping Association for Mutual Progress, a member of Christian Camp and Conference Association and the American Camp Association.

Jane’s forte in camping is programming, and the intimate knowledge of all the daily workings involved in making a camp operate smoothly and safely for the campers and staff.

Jane is an American Red Cross Water Safety Instructor Trainer, and has served on the board of directors for the Hill Country Chapter of the American Red Cross. She has been a National Rifle Association Basic Firearms Education Instructor.

Jane has packed a great deal of learning and experience into her 40-plus summers of camping, not to mention the experience gained growing up at Camp Stewart. Jane received her master’s in business administration from Our Lady of the Lake University in San Antonio in December 2000. Her undergraduate degrees are in journalism and Spanish from the Texas Woman’s University in Denton. Jane also did graduate work in Spanish at the University of Buenos Aires while working at La Nación on an Inter-American Press Association fellowship.

She is an ordained elder and sings in the choir of the First Presbyterian Church of Kerrville. Jane is on the board of trustees at Schreiner University, and the senior board at Presbyterian Mo-Ranch. She serves on the advisory board of the Riverside Nature Center in Kerrville, and is on the Kerr Economic Development Foundation. She is a past director of the Texas Lyceum Association, and is a life member of TWU Alumnae Association.

Jane lives at The Heart with her husband, Dick Howell, and their 18-year-old son, Deen.

The Heart is owned by the Ragsdale family, with Si, Kathy, and Jane as major shareholders.

Silas B. Ragsdale, Jr., known as "Si" to campers and peers alike, began his camping career as a boy of 10 in the Texas Hill Country. Since that time, summer camping has been his greatest love. He is also the principal owner of Camp Stewart for Boys.

A graduate of the University of Texas at Austin, and life member of the Texas Exes, he is also a member of Delta Tau Delta fraternity and a former western division vice president. He was named to the DTD Distinguished Service Chapter. Si is a graduate of Castle Heights Military Academy, and served as an infantry officer in World War II. He served on the board of the Texas Chamber of Commerce, was active in the Texas chapter of the U.S. Modern Pentathlon Association, and was on the Foundation Board of the Texas Woman’s University. A member of the First Presbyterian Church, Kerrville, he is an elder, is on the senior board of trustees for Mo-Ranch and, as Chairman of the Board, was on the Texas Presbyterian Foundation Board.

Kathy Coffey Ragsdale, co-director, camp mother and business manager of Camp Stewart, is a graduate of the Texas Woman’s University with bachelor’s degrees in journalism and English. She was editor of the Daily Lasso, Redbud Queen, Who’s Who in American Colleges and Universities, and was active in student government.

Jeepers Ragsdale is co-director of Camp Stewart, and a part owner of both Stewart and The Heart. He has lived his entire life in the camp environment. A graduate of San Antonio Academy and Ingram Tom Moore High School, he has studied at Schreiner University and in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico. Jeepers’ special contribution to The Heart is mainly in the horse world. A widely recognized rider who won two gold medals in the 1986 U.S. Olympic Festival, and who was Texas and USA Zone 7 champion several times, he oversees The Heart’s horseback riding programs, staff, and horses. Jeepers is a Camp Horsemanship Association master instructor, nationally rated polocrosse player, and has ridden as whip for Kenada Foxhounds. He is a member of CAMP, CCCA, and the Tejas Vaqueros, and lives at Camp Stewart with his wife, Meredith, and their son and daughter.