Donald Alexander Ramsay

Colonel Donald Alexander Ramsay, U.S. Army (Ret.), died on Sunday, October 17, 2021, at The Fairfax, Fort Belvoir, VA after a long illness. A career military officer Colonel Ramsay served 24 years in the US Army. He was an officer and a gentleman devoted to his family and respected by all who knew him. Don was born June 22,1928 to Alexander W. and Etta M. Ramsay of Grand Rapids, MI. He enlisted in the Army immediately following high school graduation and graduated from Officers Candidate School when he was still 18. Two years later he resigned that commission to enter the United States Military Academy at West Point, graduating in 1953 and commissioned in the Corps of Engineers. On June 20, 1953, he married Frances Lawrence of Blacksburg, VA. Don went on to earn a Master of Science degree in Nuclear Engineering from the Air Force Institute of Technology. He was a graduate of the Command & General Staff College as well as the Army War College. His military awards and decorations include three Legions of Merit, the Bronze Star, the Meritorious Service Medal, two Army Commendation Medals, the Air Force Commendation Medal, and the General Staff Badge. Don was a Fellow and Life Member of the American Society of Civil Engineers and a Life Member of the Society of American Military Engineers. He was a Registered Professional Engineer licensed in three states and the District of Columbia. Don’s military duty assignments included early tours in Japan and Korea, then teaching in the Army Nuclear Power Program at Fort Belvoir, VA followed by an Engineer School advisory role to the Imperial Iranian Army in Tehran, Iran in the early 1960s. From 1963 to 1966 Don served on the USMA faculty at West Point. He served overseas tours of duty during the Vietnam war with an engineering construction group in Korat, Thailand (1967-68) and in Phan Rang, Vietnam (1969-70) where he commanded the 589th Engineer Construction Battalion. Don later served as Chief of the Construction Engineering Division of the Army Engineer School at Fort Belvoir. On the Army General Staff at the Pentagon Don directed development and acquisition of night vision devices and other equipment for Vietnam and later headed the Manpower Program Division participating in the creation of the All-Volunteer Army and the decision to withdraw from Vietnam. After military retirement in 1974, Don worked in the rail transit industry with DeLeuw Cather & Co. and Parsons Brinkerhoff. Initially assigned to the Washington Metrorail, he later managed a feasibility study of the New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority capital improvement project; participated in the Northeast Corridor Railroad Capital Improvement Project and studies in Chicago and Buffalo; and led Federal project management oversight of the St. Louis Light Rail project (MetroLink) across the Mississippi River. He retired again in1996. Don was an avid lifelong ice hockey and Washington Capitals fan who shuttled his three boys to dawn hockey practices and games on weekends and was a cheerful supporter of many horse-related activities pursued by his daughters and wife. He loved music having grown up in church choir with his vocally talented parents. He and Fran traveled the world and relished time at their beach cottage in Duck, NC. He volunteered for the Red Cross at Walter Reed Army Medical Center and Rader Clinic, Fort Myer. Don is survived by his wife of 68 years, Frances Lawrence Ramsay of Glen Allen, VA and their five children, Leigh (Vernon) Simmons, Glen Allen, VA; Alec (Cathy) Ramsay, Seattle, WA; Caroline Ramsay, Richmond, VA; Scott Ramsay, Whitefish, MT; and Jim (Donna) Ramsay, Durham, NC; and by four grandchildren: Sara Ramsay(Eric Freeman), Seattle, WA; Colin Ramsay, Los Angeles, CA; Kevin Ramsay, Dubuque, IA; and Christopher (Lucy) Ramsay, Durham, NC; and by two step-grandchildren, Jenny (Yannick) Bernard, Cintegabelle, FR; Joseph (Magali) Simmons, Narbonne, FR, and three step-great-grandchildren. A funeral service at the Old Post Chapel at Fort Myer and interment with full military honors will be held at Arlington National Cemetery On January 28th 2022 at 1:00pm. In lieu of flowers donations in Don’s memory may be made to the National Museum of the United States Army through the Army Historical Foundation or to the charity of your choice. The family extends its deepest gratitude to his devoted caregivers in the last years of his life, especially to Ali Farashkhani and to Christie Dano.