David L. Ramp

I am proud to pay my respects to my former colleague David Ramp. My sympathies to his family. Based on my 32 years acquaintance with David, I know you have every reason to be proud of him.

I first met David in 2003 when he applied for a position with my law firm. We had narrowed the field to three candidates and everyone in the office interviewed each of them. David Ramp was head and shoulders the first choice of everyone in the office. He was smart, personable, and engaging in a very unassuming way. When I went home that night and told my husband that our strongest candidate had worked for Legal Aid for twenty years, his immediate and ardent response was "hire him!"

We did hire David, and I am grateful that we did. He was a strong attorney with an excellent and unmatched ability to evaluate the type of cases we handled. However, he was also a kind and compassionate friend. The world is a lesser place now that he is gone, and I will miss him.

Dear Toni and Family,
I had the pleasure of working with Dave at Legal Aid in the Northside office and seeing firsthand his truly heroic work on rent-to-own and other issues. A great lawyer and a great human being, filled with determination, intelligence, and compassion -- a model for public interest lawyers everywhere. I'll continue to be inspired by his example.

Words for David (original poem)

Mother Nature claims us,
One and All.
Her children are never lost,
Are one with her,
Always and Forever More.
You are her son,
From her formed, to her returned
Though never gone.
We are but human and we mourn,
Forced to bear witness as you,
Like the sturdy elm,
Lose life and limb til
You have no leaves for shade
Nor safe place for nest,
No reason left to be a tree.
We watch all this, bereft, forlorn,
Til all your birds have flown.
Our feet shake on disturbed ground
And all we can see
Is empty space
Where you should be.

M. Emma Hixson
May 10, 2009

Our thoughts and prayers are with Dave's family. His brother Paul and I were friends throughout our school years, and Dave was a kind (if at the time also imposing) figure in all of our lives. He will be missed.

I'm very sorry for your loss. As a good friend of his brother Paul, I knew Dave growing up in Richfield, Ohio and have many fond memories of times with the whole Ramp family. Reading through his accomplishments, it's obvious he was certainly a person who carried on the values of his parents and made a great impact on the world around him.

Dearest Linda, Ian, Noah, Laura, Brian & Entire Family,
Murray and I were blessed to have shared so many wonderful times with David. He was a brilliant, generous and compassionate man and all our lives were touched by his loving heart and wisdom. He will be greatly missed and remembered... Sending deepest condolences... Gail & Murray Staal

feeling your loss here, wishing i could be closer...sending love and hugs

This is a loss for all Minnesotans.


Jay Wilkinson

David lives in my memory as a courageous man who treasured his family. My deepest condolences.

To Dave Ramp's Family - Please accept my sincere condolences. I was honored to be Dave's colleague at the Office of Administrative Hearings. To say he was brilliant, incisive and hard-working doesn't do him justice - Dave was kind, generous and fun. He is greatly missed. Rick Luis

Linda, Ian and family,
I am so sorry to hear about Dave's death. He was a good friend to me, a generous colleague, and always a lion of an advocate for our clients at Legal Aid and later on in his practice. My deepest condolences.

Linda and family,
We are so sorry to read about David. You are all in our thoughts and prayers during this difficult time. Carol Worwa & Leanne Warner

Please accept my deepest sympathies.