Remembrances

Remembering Glenn Bragg

I come today to recognize one of our own, as Charles Glenn Bragg, known to all as Glenn, was called in for his next assignment in the vast gardens of Heaven. As written in his obituary, Glenn passed away on 14 June 2025 at the age of 86. He was born on 27 November 1938 in Santa Anna, Texas, to Owen and Hazel Mae Bragg. He married JoLynn McWilliams on 5 July 1963, celebrating 62 years of marriage. He was a proud father and grandfather to his son David and wife Tammy, and granddaughters Jennifer Bragg Ruiz (Heath) and Amanda Bragg, as well as his daughter Shelly Bragg Malatek, husband Greg, and grandsons Garrett and Will Malatek.
Glenn graduated from Texas A & M University in 1961 and served in the Army as a military police officer before starting a career as a County Extension Agent in Medina County for the Texas Agricultural Extension Service, today known as Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service. Continuing his education, he earned his Master’s from Texas A&M in 1971. He was a successful entrepreneur and businessman.
After retiring from the Extension Service, he started his own businesses. First, Bragg Irrigation, and then Bragg Pecan Farms, where he established his own pecan orchards, buying, selling, and shipping pecans all over the United States and the world. His pecans received numerous local, area, regional, and state awards for their excellence. He served as a director of the Texas Pecan Growers Association and the Hondo Area Chamber of Commerce. In 1997, he was awarded Businessperson of the Year. As a lifelong member of the Methodist Church of Hondo, Glenn served as a youth group leader and on multiple church committees.
Glenn was also an avid fisherman and loved fishing with family and friends. He loved games of every kind, but even more, he enjoyed sharing a laugh with everyone around him.
I would like to highlight a few of his outstanding accomplishments in the pecan biosphere. He was the County Extension Agent in Medina County when drip irrigation was introduced to the pecan world and numerous orchards were established in the Wintergarden area. Of course, with any new enterprise, there were challenges to overcome, and Glenn was instrumental in that. I bet we have shown his picture a thousand times, and maybe more, of him kneeling on the ground, literally pulling a new tree out of the ground because the soil was saturated, and the top looked like it was in need of water. No doubt there are many pecan success stories in this Wintergarden area, as at one time the Wintergarden Pecan Show averaged as many as 500 entries, which back then was equivalent to a Regional Pecan Show.
Glenn was ahead of his time in the pecan realm in that he and his wife, JoLynn, vertically integrated years before it became the thing to do. They put in a shelling plant and would crack and shell pecans in volumes large and small. Of course, they shelled their own crop to increase its value. Further, they put in a line of value-added products, all while promoting the sale of pecans. This is where I learned the shell out of varieties was a lot less than we would like, as it is really hard to recover the small pieces. Today, we have gotten better at recovery, but at times, the percent kernel can be far less than you would expect. Their Bragg pecan label is still on the market today, though they sold it several years ago.
The Bragg orchards were located on some good soils, but not traditional pecan soils. In places, the depth was not as deep as it needed to be, and in times of stressful periods, it was hard to keep the trees wet. In the orchard by his house, Glenn had some trees that were not performing as they should. The problem resembled cotton root rot (CRR), but we could not find the organism in the top layers of roots. So, we asked Glenn if he could get a backhoe, and we could dig some trees out. Now everyone knows that a 20-plus-year-old pecan tree has a massive root system, at least they are supposed to, but I can remember when we dug the trees out, he dug on all 4 sides of the tree and then literally pushed the tree over with little if any effort. All present were amazed at the ease of pushing the tree over. Glenn even told me, how are we going to get it out. Although the CRR fungus was not present on the upper roots, approximately 3 feet down in the soil, the roots were eaten up by the CRR organism. Hence, indeed, CRR was the reason the trees did not perform as they should. Yes, pecan is somewhat tolerant to CRR, but trees will eventually succumb when conditions are really stressful.
And so, we could go on and on with his many good deeds, and I know there are other pecan heroes not recognized here that have done the same, but when it was all said and done in the pecan business, Glenn came to the conclusion that deep soil was the key to growing pecans.
The following graced his service leaflet, and it says it all very well. Rest in peace, Glenn. The pecan world is a better place because of your work as a County Extension Agent and entrepreneur.

A Fallen Limb

A limb has fallen from the family tree.
I hear a voice that says….
‘Grieve not for me. Remember the best times.
the laughter, the song.
The good life I lived while I was still strong.
Continue my heritage, I’m counting on you.
Keep smiling and surely the sun will shine through
My mind is at ease, my soul is at rest.
Remembering all, I truly was blessed.
Continue traditions, no matter how small.
Go on with your life, don’t worry at all.
I miss you all dearly, so keep up your chin.
Until the day comes when we’re together again.’
-author unknown-

Remembering Roger Baker

Roger William Baker, 77, of Tishomingo, Oklahoma, passed away peacefully at home on August 21, 2025. A lifelong resident of Tishomingo, Roger was deeply rooted in his community and in the land he loved. He spent his life devoted to farming and ranching, with a special passion for pecan farming, in which he was actively involved with the Oklahoma Pecan Growers Association.
He and his wife, Jackie, built a beautiful life together over 51 years, raising three children and many grandchildren, whom he adored and proudly supported. Roger will be remembered for his big personality, entrepreneurial spirit, and unwavering love for family and faith.
For the full obituary visit PecanSouthMagazine.com/magazine/issue/2025-08/