Renee Marchant Rampton

Renee Marchant Rampton was born July 25, 1935 in Salt Lake City, Utah. She passed away peacefully at her home in Las Vegas on February 21, 2024.

Renee and her twin brother, Richard, were the eighth and ninth of fifteen children born to Stephen Casper Marchant and Beatrice Peterson Marchant. She has written about her life in an autobiography titled One of Fifteen. She was raised in an active Mormon family and grew up near Liberty Park in the heart of Salt Lake City, where she enjoyed its aviary with birds, monkeys, seals and other animals. She rode the Ferris wheel and merry-go-round and ate hot dogs, drinks, popcorn and cotton candy from the concession stands. She made sand castles, played on swings, swam in the Liberty Park pools, and participated in games, art projects, dancing, music and tennis. As a child during World War II, she bought war stamps every Tuesday and Thursday to support the soldiers fighting overseas.

Renee began playing the piano at age eight, taught first by her mother and then by Grace Evans, a member of the popular Evans Sisters performing group. At age ten, she was hired to play the piano for Nell Taylor, a local dance instructor. She played the piano and organ for the Liberty Ward Sunday school and performed entertainment bookings as well as rehearsal piano for the ballet program at the University of Utah. She majored in music at the University of Utah, and in 1956 she married Roger Rampton, a fellow student and Utah Symphony Orchestra percussionist. They began their family in Long Beach, California, where Roger performed with the Long Beach Symphony Orchestra.

In 1960, the Ramptons moved to Las Vegas, Nevada, where Roger performed in local show orchestras. Renee raised their four children and also served as a church organist, music director, and private piano teacher and directed many musical programs for her local LDS church, and she was an advocate for improving music education in the Clark County School District.

Following a divorce in 1979, Renee went back to college, earned a degree in elementary education and worked as an elementary school teacher until her retirement in 2005. In the classroom, she used her musical skills to teach the children to sing and enjoy the happy environment that music brings. She also became an outspoken advocate for the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA), for women's rights and social justice. Like her parents, she was a proud Democrat. She held leadership roles in the National Organization for Women and served on the staff of Nevada Senator Howard Cannon.

Renee's legacy is one of love and generosity. As a mother, she nurtured her children with unconditional support and had great pride in them and their accomplishments. She leaves four children: Sheldon and his wife Walda Wood; Debi Rivkin; Dale; Kenny and his wife Liesl Whitaker; her cherished grandchildren Amy, Cynthia and Derin; and great-grandchildren Aeralyn, Julian, Madelyn and Serafina. She was preceded in death by her siblings LeGrande (Ramona) Marchant, George (Jean) Marchant, Maurice (Valoy) Marchant, Lucy (Robert) Butters, Elva (Dick) Barnes, Joan (Charles) Braunersrither, Richard (Joan) Marchant, Lois (Lindsay) Steele, and Roger (Susan) Marchant. Surviving brothers and sisters include Wanda (Paul) Rosander, Marva (Roger) Davis, Byron (Gladys) Marchant, Karen (Ross) Derbidge, and Dwight (Rosemary) Marchant.

Renee's spirit will live on through the music she shared, the students she inspired, and the causes she championed. Her life will continue to echo in the hearts of those who knew her for her passion, her courage, and her unwavering, loving spirit.

The family would like to express their appreciation for the compassionate care provided to Renee in her last months by the staff at Nathan Adelson Hospice and by her live-in caregiver, Celeste Parker.

A celebration of Renee's life will be held beginning at 2 p.m. on March 30 at La Paloma Funeral Services, 2551 South Fort Apache Rd., Las Vegas, NV 89117. If you would like to join the family in sharing memories of her life of love and service, please RSVP to sheldonmrampton@gmail.com.

For people who cannot attend the celebration in person, video will be streamed live at https://webcast.funeralvue.com/events/viewer/98397 or you can view the archived video anytime until May 30.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Jazz Outreach Initiative, https://www.jazzoutreachinitiative.org/