Forrest Ramsey Jr.

1930 - 2026

Forrest G. "Woody" Ramsey Jr. graduated to eternal life on March 27th, 2026, having died of natural causes at the age of 95. He was born on October 25, 1930 in Wichita, KS, the eldest of the eleven children of Forrest Ramsey and Ruth Linot Ramsey. Most of his elementary schooling was in a one room country school with one teacher for all eight grades. He was president of his high school class in Wichita during his junior year and judge of the Wichita inter-high schools traffic court as a senior. He received a Congressional appointment to the U.S. Naval Academy and graduated in 1952 with a Bachelor's degree in engineering.

His first active duty was aboard the USS Vesole (DDR 878) in the Atlantic and Mediterranean fleet. He attended Basic Submarine School in 1954 and, after graduation, served aboard the USS Grenadier (SS 525), where he earned his Dolphins. In 1957 he resigned his active duty commission and returned to Wichita as an employee of Boeing, participating in the structural testing of the B-52G aircraft. He relocated to Denver, CO in 1959 to work for Martin-Marietta on the Titan Missile programs, with assignments in engineering, advanced design, logistics, and system tests.

In 1965 he moved to the Washington, D.C. metro area to work for Computer Sciences Corporation in support of the initial satellite communications systems. He progressed to Director of the Management Sciences Division and Program Director of Navy contracts. One of those contracts supported the Trident Command and Control System and became the focus of the remainder of his professional career. In 1976 he co-founded American Systems Corporation and became its CEO. Under his leadership, the company grew from one employee (Woody) to over 1,200 employees, with branch offices across the U.S. and in Europe. In 1992 he relinquished CEO responsibilities and became Chairman of the Board. At his retirement in 1997, he and his partner sold the company to its employees (ESOP); the company continues to prosper.

While he was CEO, he was a member of the Professional Services Council, and he served as Vice Chairman for one term. Also, during this period he assisted his classmate, RADM Al Kelln, in establishing the Naval Submarine League, and he served on its initial Board of Directors. His re-association with the submarine community and many successes in the Trident program provided great satisfaction to Woody.

He is survived by his seven children. His remains will be interred within the Apostle Thomas shelves in Calvary Cemetery during a private ceremony.