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WILTON, Conn. Edward C. Ramsey of Wilton died May 3. He was 73.
Ramsey was a retired captain for American Airlines.
Services will be held Saturday at Mott and Henning Funeral Home in Athens, Ill. Hoyt Funeral Home is in charge of local arrangements.
Born Feb. 18, 1939 in Sangamon County, Ill., he was the son of Edward and Cleo Ramsey. Raised in Illiopolis, Ill., Ramsey graduated from Illiopolis High School in 1957. He graduated from Southern Illinois University at Carbondale in 1962 with a degree in engineering.
Ramsey served in the Illinois National Guard in Springfield, Ill., for 15 years. In 1967, he earned a pilot's license and began a 32-year career with American Airlines.
Ramsey met SuAnne Fehr in 1978 while he was racing for the American Airlines ski team. They married in 1982 and made their home in Connecticut, where they raised two sons. After he retired as a captain from American Airlines in 1999, the family moved to Lyon, France, for four years so his sons could become prolific in the French language and experience other cultures.
As a family, they traveled extensively and took ski trips all over the world. Ramsey was an accomplished classical pianist, taking weekly lessons at the Connecticut School of Music. He had been training to play solo repertoires by such composers as Chopin and Mozart.
Ramsey immersed himself in all kinds of music, especially Jazz. He was very dedicated to promoting jazz by hosting fundraising concerts within the community. Ramsey was described by family as a man of many passions, the greatest of which was his family.
He also had a passion for woodworking, whether he was making furniture or building houses. His love for woodworking led to building the family home in Connecticut, modeled after the Geodesic Dome Home invented by architect Buckminster Fuller.
Ramsey attended cooking school and French language classes and was continuously enrolling in classes at the local community college. He enjoyed reading books and reading about current events and was a fan of the New York Jets and the New York Mets.
He is survived by his wife, SuAnne Fehr-Ramsey, of Wilton; two sons, Michael and Aaron Ramsey, both of Wilton; a brother, Archie (Virgie) Ramsey, of Murray, Ky.; three sisters, Shirley (Jimmy) Snyder, of Moweaqua, Ill., Judy (Lorry) Hudson, of Desert Hot Springs, Calif., and Carol (Harold) Brown, of Springfield and three sisters-in-law.
In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to the Stanley Medical Research Institute for Mental Health, 8401 Connecticut Ave., Suite 200, Chevy Chase, MD 20815, or Edward Cutler Ramsey Memorial Fund, c/o Wells Fargo Bank, 44 Old Ridgefield Road, Wilton, CT 06897, or a favorite charity.
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