Karen R. Ramey's Obituary
Karen R. Ramey, beloved mother, grandmother and wife, died unexpectedly in her home on December 7, 2018, following a short stay in Shands Hospital.
Born in Harrison Township, Pennsylvania, Karen spent most of her life in Washington, D.C. and surrounding areas of Maryland.
She had a particularly strong, long-lasting affection for the “Eastern Shore” of the Chesapeake Bay and its two most picturesque waterfront towns, St. Michaels and Oxford. It’s where she raised her two sons and it’s where she began an entirely new chapter in her life, with the person who would be her devoted companion for the next 35 years.
Karen attended the University of Maryland, and graduated, years later, from Chesapeake College. In between, she became a stewardess for United Airlines (stationed in Chicago, San Francisco and Washington, D.C.), quit flying to raise a family, and never stopped finding ways to give back to her community.
She worked in health care (in a doctor’s office and in nursing homes) and became a claims expert for Blue Cross. Along the way, she volunteered to assist the aged, eventually becoming a certified “Visiting Nurse” in the Washington suburbs (providing in-home care for the elderly).
In a change of pace, she also headed a large homeowners association in Annapolis, Maryland, and, in the mid-1990s, became a White House Volunteer during President Clinton’s first term. Most recently, she served as a poll worker in North Carolina and Alachua County.
When she retired and moved, first, to North Carolina and, later, to Gainesville, Karen turned her largely recreational tennis game into a full-blown hobby---competing in organized play in both North Carolina and Gainesville (at the 300 Club and Gainesville Country Club). In 2004, she was a leading member of a team that won a North Carolina state championship in senior women’s tennis.
Nothing, however, ever surpassed Karen’s unrelenting devotion to family and friends. She was a spirited, strong woman with a boundless thirst for life, but always taking into account what she could do for others.
In the end, Karen’s life and passing are well summarized in these lines from Scottish poet Robert Burns: “If there’s another world, [she] lives in bliss. If there is none, [she] made the best of this.”
Survivors include Karen’s husband of 35 years, Carl; son, Bradley of Richmond, Virginia; stepsons, Mark of Purcellville, Virginia, and Christian from Lake Oswego, Oregon; and five grandchildren (Amelia, Avi, Amanda, Niall and Dylan). Also left behind are special daughters-in-law, Andrea Salinas, Krista Ramey and Tracy Hamilton.
A celebration of Karen’s life will be held on Friday, January 11, 2019, at the WILLIAMS-THOMAS FUNERAL HOME DOWNTOWN, 404 N. Main Street, Gainesville, at 11:00 A.M.
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