Rev. David A. Ramsey

Rev. David A. Ramsey

Sewell - Born in January of 1933, Dave was raised on the family farm in Whitehouse, NJ and in St. Petersburg, FL. along with his brother Ken (Fredericksburg, VA) and his sister Jeanne (Lexington, KY). After high school he attended Maryville College (Maryville, TN) majoring in History and in the fall of his senior year he went on a blind date and met the love of his life, Margaret. They celebrated 64 years of marriage this past June. Together they have 4 children, Gloria Proctor (Darrell/Gibbsboro, NJ), Cheryl Johnson (Lancaster, PA), Rebecca Eastman (Marlton, NJ) and David Ramsey (Cherie/Dillsburg, PA), 13 grandchildren and 8 great-grandchildren. Over the years, he and Margaret opened their home to foster children, released inmates and foreign exchange students, including their "daughter" Sakiko (AFS exchange student from Japan in 1975-76). After college Dave attended Louisville Seminary (Master of Divinity) and Princeton Seminary (Master of Theology). He served in full time pastoral ministry from 1958-1991, pastoring in Edinburg, IN and Hillside, NJ before serving at Bethany Presbyterian Church in Haddon Heights, NJ for 25 years. Dave and Margaret went on several mission trips to Romania and served as short-term missionaries to Bulgaria in 1992. He co-founded Jericho Ministries in 1987, a prison and jail ministry operating in 14 institutions in the State of NJ. Starting off part-time and then becoming full-time Field Director in 1991 before "retiring" several times, he continued to volunteer at FCI- Fairton up until COVID shut down visitors to the facility. Dave enjoyed traveling and visited Cuba and countries in Eastern and Western Europe, the Middle East and North America. He traveled to all 50 states but his favorite spot was a lakefront cabin in the White Mountains of NH. He played the bagpipes in college and later the guitar (composing several songs), wrote a book about Zacchaeus and was an avid scrapbooker. He was the Encyclopedia of All Baseball Trivia, (a lifelong Detroit Tigers fan), a master of crossword puzzles and enjoyed backpacking and hiking. He hiked the summit of Mt. Washington 15 times - the first time as a young boy and the last time in his 70's. He was quiet and gentle with a dry sense of humor. He listened much more than he spoke. He loved his wife and children unconditionally and they will be forever grateful for his Godly example as a husband and father. The family held a private graveside service for him in Whitehouse, NJ. A Celebration of Life will be held on Saturday, August 21st at 11:30am at Ashland Evangelical Presbyterian Church, 33 East Evesham Road, Voorhees, NJ followed by refreshments and an opportunity to visit with family and friends. To share memories and condolences please visit www.fosterwarnefuneralhome.com.