Doris Adams Ramsey

Doris Adams Ramsey, 97, of Athens, Georgia, passed away peacefully at home on March 6, 2025. She was born in Worth County, Georgia on December 30, 1927, to William Warren Whiddon and Mattie Lou Thompson.

Doris was preceded in death by sons Robert Edward Adams, Jr. and John Warren Adams; grandson Robert Adams “Adam” Sides; siblings Helen Hall Hawks and Lester Rexford “Rex” Whiddon; her first husband and the father of her five children, Robert “Bob” Edward Adams, Sr.; her second husband Bernard Bruce Ramsey; and her partner Hoyt Jackson “Jack” Turner.

Doris is survived by daughters Lucia Adams Comer of Athens and Anne Adams Sides (Allen) of Las Vegas, Nevada; son Howell Atkins Adams of Macon; her devoted younger sister, Patricia “Pat” Whiddon Booth (Garlan) of Tifton; and daughter-in-law Louise “Tootsie” Terrell Adams of Athens. Other survivors include six granddaughters, Lucy Anne Stansfield of Atlanta, Mayme Jane Stansfield of Athens, Andrea Comer Goff (Kyle) of Athens, Elinor “Ellie” Adams Swain (Samuel) of Athens, Catherine Drewry Comer of Athens, and Elizabeth Morris “Morri” Sides Malczon (Duke) of Kona, Hawaii; one grandson, Howell Hayes Adams of Athens; and beloved great-grandchildren, nieces, nephews, and great-nieces and nephews.

Doris graduated from Sumner High School in Sumner, Georgia, where she played basketball, and later attended Mercer University in Macon. She was married on April 12, 1951, in Columbus, Georgia to Bob Adams of Henry County. They lived in Atlanta briefly before settling in Macon, where Bob started several successful businesses. Doris played an integral role in ensuring the success of those entrepreneurial endeavors, including Munford’s Do-It-Yourself, Munford’s Art and Frame, Macon Tile and Carpet, and Adams Distributing Company. Several years after Bob passed, Doris met and married Bernard Ramsey of New York City. She moved to New York and, with Bernard, traveled extensively throughout the world and enjoyed time at his home on Little Cumberland Island, Georgia.

Following Bernard’s death and years living in New York, she returned to Athens where she befriended Jack Turner at a University of Georgia football game and together they shared six happy years of companionship. Doris continued Bernard’s legacy of support for his alma mater, the University of Georgia. She was a member of the Crystal Arch Society, the Silver Circle, and was a loyal Georgia Bulldogs fan. She also supported many other philanthropic and community causes, including the Classic Center, the Georgia Museum of Art, and Piedmont Athens Regional Medical Center.

Her adventurous spirit led to interesting and exotic travels, most notably her participation in an around-the-world trip on the famed Concorde following Bernard’s death. Doris found happiness in her new life back home in the South, where she enjoyed friendships with Beth Johnston, Kitty Wilson, the late Faye Butts Jones, and others. At the end of her life, Doris and her family were grateful for the friendships she shared with dedicated caregivers Linda Elder and Angela Bugg, among others.

Doris will be remembered for her remarkably positive attitude, quick wit, captivating smile, brilliant blue eyes, grace, and generosity. Her outgoing nature and playful spirit made her a great friend and beloved by anyone she met. Her personal strength and optimism served her well when she was faced with loss and adversity. She was a devoted wife, mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother, affectionately known by many as “GranDoris.”

A memorial service will be held on Saturday, March 15, 2025, at 2:00 pm at the First Presbyterian Church of Athens. The family will welcome guests afterwards in the fellowship hall.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the University of Georgia Honors Program or the Hodgson School of Music.

Bernstein Funeral Home has charge of arrangements.