Lucy Pierson Ramsey

RAMSEY, Lucy Pierson Lucy Pierson Ramsey died peacefully at St. Mary's Home on Thursday (October 22, 2009) She was 86 years old and had spent most of her adult life in West Hartford. Born on March 14, 1923, to Norris and Lucy Pierson, she spent her childhood years in Stamford and Darien, CT. Lucy attended Low Heywood and Oldfield's School and graduated from Wheaton College, MA, in 1945. As a young woman, she served with the American Red Cross and worked as a research librarian for Elmo Roper in New York. She met David Ramsey, the love of her life at a New Year's Eve party in 1948. They were married a year later in Darien, CT. Together they raised three children and she and David shared 48 wonderful years until his passing in 1996. Lucy was an active member of Asylum Hill Congregational Church for many years where she was a deacon, Sunday school teacher, supporter of the church's community projects and a volunteer in its Thrift Shop and Meals on Wheels program. Lucy was a wonderful, loving, and supportive wife, mother and grandmother. She will be remembered for her love of art, poetry, music, reading, and gardening, but mostly for her devotion to her loving family. Lucy also had a great love for all creatures great and small and a long history as a rescuer of injured animals and a supporter of animal protection organizations and other charities. Lucy was a long-time contributor and volunteer at the West Hartford Art League, a member of the Garden Club, and former board member of the Woodridge Lake Association. Lucy was dearly loved by all her family, and we feel blessed to have had her in our lives. She faced her long battle with Alzheimer's with courage, grace and dignity right up through her last days. Despite the relentlessness of the disease, she never complained and would always manage to shift the focus of a conversation away from herself and on to her loved ones. It was an amazing affirmation of life and selflessness and a privilege for all of us to have witnessed. Lucy is survived by daughter Laura Ramsey Russell and her husband Paul Frazer of Poughkeepsie NY; son David Ramsey and his partner Beth Desjardin of Hampton CT; and son John Ramsey and wife Jacki Gilligan-Ramsey of West Hartford. She also leaves behind four grandchildren, Samuel Russell of Paris, France; Jonathan Russell of Washington D.C.; Daniel Gilligan-Ramsey and his wife Julie, and Ryan Gilligan-Ramsey, of West Hartford, CT; and a great-granddaughter Marcella Gilligan-Ramsey. In addition, she is survived by her sister Peg Weeks of Darien, CT, and her brother Ned Pierson of Holland, MI. We invite you to honor and celebrate Lucy's life at a service to be held on Saturday, Oct. 31, 2 p.m. at Asylum Hill Congregational Church, 814 Asylum Avenue, Hartford. Private burial will be at Cedar Hill Cemetery. The family requests that in lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to Animal Friends of CT, Inc., P.O. Box 370306, West Hartford, CT 06137 or Asylum Hill Congregational Church, 814 Asylum Avenue, Hartford, CT 06105.