Thomas Andrew Ramirez

1971 - 2025

Thomas Andrew Ramirez, age 53 of St. Cloud passed away Wednesday, Jan. 8 in Brooksville, Fla. He was born in Elgin, Ill. on June 26, 1971 to John and Edith Ramirez. Tom lived in Dundee, Ill. as a child. He was an active member of First Baptist Church in Elgin participating in youth groups and traveled with the singing group Shekinah around the country and Canada.
During his eighth grade, he was diagnosed with a large brain tumor. Tom had dreamed of playing football following the steps of his father. Unfortunately that dream was gone. As a freshman at St. Edward's High School his P.E. teacher noticed how fast he could run and recommended Tom to join the cross-country team-with that his life story begins.
Tom competed in high school and then chose Bethel University in St. Paul, Minn. for his college. He was a cross-country runner for the university. He majored in communications and was the manager of the radio station at his school. His senior year, he was chosen to do his internship at CBS in Minneapolis and that was the beginning of his radio future. After working for three years with CBS he was then hired by Radio Disney to be their Production Manager. Tom totally enjoyed working with children in many areas in this position. He also was able to do a lot of promotion work with the Target Center and other facilities in the Minneapolis area.
After ten years with Disney, Tom ventured out to other opportunities with much success. He loved making videos and developed video games for several companies.
In 2014 Tommy moved to Florida where his mother lived. He then decided to leave the communications area and go into education. Tom wanted to follow in his mother's footsteps as a teacher. He worked in Osceola and Orange County in elementary schools. He was employed at Wyndam Lakes Elementary when he suffered a stroke, which left him paralyzed.
The stroke destroyed his dreams as his passion for running and biking had ended. Tom competed in 100s of races in the 5K, 10K, and marathons in Florida, winning at every competition including the Daytona Half Marathon and the Disney Marathon. He was extremely dedicated to working to become better after each race. In his final year of racing he competed in triathlons, which he also was very successful in.
Since Tom's stroke he had worked daily determined to walk again and be able to return to work. Every day he would be outside with his cane walking all day long trying to achieve what he loved so much.
On Dec. 28 Tom suffered a massive stroke and died 10 days later. He is survived by his mother Edith Ramirez Ranard of St. Cloud; sister Tracy Toner of Brooksville, FL and two children Erma and Elias of White Bear Lake, Minn. He was preceded in death by his father, John E. Ramirez in 2007. Tommy's memorial service will be held Feb. 22 at West Orlando Baptist Church in Ocoee.