John Martin Ramsay

John Martin Ramsay died May 8, 2024, at age 94. He had learned during

his long life that “a successful past is, of course, created hour by hour, day

by day, which means that what we do right now is all that matters.”

Ramsay had ample days to build his past. As a conscientious objector to

war, he spent his life bringing people together in amity with country dancing,

through international exchanges, and by inspiring students with ways to

build community. The Country Dance and Song Society recognized John’s

efforts with its 2010 Lifetime Achievement Award. October 16, 2010, was

proclaimed as John Martin Ramsay Day by the mayor of Berea, Kentucky.

John was enrolled as an Ageless and Remarkable St. Louisan, class of

2006, and 2006 Volunteer of the Year by AARP and Retired Teacher’s

Association in the Saint Louis Area.

At age 22, Ramsay began his career in education as Dairy Manager and

Agriculture Instructor at Warren Wilson College in North Carolina. He

attained his Ph.D. from Iowa State in 1966 and became Director of the

John C. Campbell Folk School in Brasstown, North Carolina. He then

returned to Berea College, his alma mater, as Director of Recreation

Extension from which he retired in 1995 and moved to St. Louis with his

third wife, Bernice Lee Hollaway Meyer. They taught country dancing to

thousands in homeschool communities of Missouri and Illinois.

Ramsay was founding president/organizer of Settlement Institutions of

Appalachia, Danish American Exchange, Folk Education Association of

America, Folk Circle Association, and Dance Discovery.

John and his first wife, Winona Ruth Lotz Ramsay, had two sons, Martin

Ramsay of CEATH Company, an international consulting firm in Berea, KY,

and Loren Ramsay, associate professor of water engineering at VIA

University College, Horsens, Denmark. He has six grandsons and fifteen great

grandchildren. There are also two stepdaughters, Rebecca Kinnard

(daughter of Risse Faye Layne) and Paige Marie Stevens (daughter of

Bernice Hollaway Meyer), and eight step-grandchildren. He is survived by

his third wife, Bernice Meyer. John is preceded in death by his father,

John Gates Ramsay and his mother, Gertrude Eleanor Martin Ramsay.

His memoirs, writings, videos, etc. can be found at www.shareinprint.org.

A Celebration of Life will be held at Samuel United Church of Christ,

320 North Forsyth Blvd. in Clayton, MO on Saturday, May 18 at 11:30 a.m.

followed by a light lunch.

Services provided by Hughes Funeral Alternatives, LLC in St. Louis, Missouri.