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Submitted: 6/29/20 • Approved: 6/30/20 • Last Updated: 7/3/20 • R1325846-G1325845-S3
July 8, 1919 - August 13, 2011
Ellen Shiras Ramey, 92, died at her home in Cotter overlooking her beloved Ozarks, on Saturday, August 13, 2011.
She was born in Mountain Home on July 8, 1919, to long-time Baxter Bulletin Co-Publisher Enness Barr Shiras and his wife Francesca Posey, the fine arts teacher at the Mountain Home Baptist College.
During her school years, she enjoyed working at the Baxter Bulletin and Shiras Brothers Print Shop with the other young people in the family. She graduated in 1935 from Mountain Home High School and earned her teacher's certificate from Arkansas State Teacher's College in 1939. She taught in Viola in 1939-40 and always remembered the kindness of the people there. The next two years she taught sixth grade in Mountain Home.
She married Ray R. Ramey, Jr., on Feb. 23, 1942. When he joined the Army, they went to Carthage, Mo., where she worked for the Carthage Evening Press, and to Red Bank, N.J., where she answered phones in a factory that made ponchos for those in service overseas.
After WWII she and Ray kept The Ramey Company after Ray's father retired and then established the Ben Franklin Store on the South Side of the square in Mountain Home. She particularly enjoyed working with the other ladies at the store, meeting new people as the community grew, and seeing all the people who came to the square on Saturdays.
She was active in the MHHS band parents' organization and served as a Girl Scout leader when her children were in school. Many times, she'd round up a car full of teen-agers and take them to football and basketball games.
She was a founding member of the Baxter County Historical and Genealogical Society, a volunteer for Baxter Regional Medical Center's Bargain Box and for the Historical Society Museum in Gassville. She was a lifelong member of the Methodist Church.
She was preceded in death by her parents; her husband; her brother Pete; sisters Frances (Roy) McClelland and Edith (Allen) Mayfield. She is survived by two daughters, Judi Ramey (Sonny) Sharp of Mountain Home and Anne Ramey of Cotter; two grandchildren, Julie (Bruce) Summa of Lathrop, Mo., and Steven (Carlene) Sharp of Fayetteville, N.C.; great-grandchildren, Briget Summa, Samantha Sharp, and Wyatt Sharp; and numerous beloved nieces and nephews.
The memorial service will be at 2 p.m. Wednesday at Roller Funeral Home, with the family receiving friends beginning at 1 p.m.
Memorials may be made to the Baxter County Historical and Genealogical Society, the North Arkansas Food Bank, Hospice of the Ozarks or the chairty of your choice.
Contributed on 6/29/20 by Jenbaker1951
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Record #: 1325846