Donald Ramsey's Obituary
Funeral services for Donald Clayton Ramsey Jr. (Donnie) of Half Moon Bay, California will be held at Skylawn Funeral Home and Memorial Park in San Mateo, California at 2:00 pm on August 26,2016. The family will receive friends during 12:00 – 2:00 pm at Skylawn Funeral Home. Mr. Ramsey (Donnie) passed away August 16, 2016 at home. Donnie was born March 20, 1966 at Fort Sanders Hospital in Knoxville, Tennessee to Mildred Lucille Ray Ramsey and Donald Clayton Ramsey, Sr. He is the grandson of William H. and Artie Ellison Ray and Carl and Shan Donaldson Ramsey and great grandson of Jimmy and Blanche Ramsey all of Harrogate Tennessee. Donnie professed faith in the Lord Jesus Christ at an early age and he was baptized at the Eastwood Baptist Church where he remained a member until death.Donnie grew up in Cookeville Tennessee where he attended the Tennessee Tech Campus School, Northeast Elementary, Cookeville Junior High School and Cookeville Senior High School where he graduated in May of 1984. Donnie received numerous awards during his high school years. While in high school, he was chosen to appear in the Who’s Who Among American High School Students. While in high school, he received an award from “Concerned Citizens For The Retarded” for his outstanding service in teaching retarded citizens of all ages how to swim. He was chosen to participate in the Summer Challenge ’83 residential program at Vanderbilt University where invited scholarly high school students came to campus in Nashville for a summer of academic instruction and on-campus life. In April 1984, Donnie was selected and recognized by Governor Alexander and the State of Tennessee Department of Education, for his outstanding achievement in the area of Comprehensive Education. Governor Alexander hosted a dinner honoring him as one of the winners in the Tennessee Honors Program.After graduation from Cookeville High School, Donnie received a James W. Stewart, Jr. full scholarship to study engineering at Vanderbilt University. According to Ramona Tilghman, Guidance Counselor at Cookeville High, “competition for these scholarships is of the highest academic nature. Seniors from public and private high schools throughout the nation applied for these scholarships”, she added. Donald was offered scholarships at Vanderbilt University, Rice University, USMA West Point, the Air Force Academy, the University of Tennessee and Tennessee Tech. In 1988 Donnie graduated from Vanderbilt University Summa Cum Laude with double majors in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science. While at Vanderbilt, he was the State Representative for the National Society of Professional Engineers. He was Sports Editor for Vanderbilt Video Productions, Ex Officio member Engineering Council, President IEEE-Eta Kappa Nu Association.In 1988, Donnie received an Office of Naval Research (ONR) Washington D.C. full graduate fellowship to attend post graduate school at Stanford University in Palo Alto, California where he did post-graduate study in Electrical and Computer Engineering. He was co-author of a publication “Naval Environmental Operational Nowcasting System (NEONS)” presented at the Sixth International Conference on Interactive Information and Processing Systems of the American Meteorological Society in 1990. He was a Tau Beta Pi Fellow. He was a member of several professional and honorary organizations namely IEEE, AC Phi Eta Sigma, Alpha Lambda Delta. During his career in the computer industry, Donnie worked at several computer design companies in the Silicon Valley area of California, during the last decade at the Apple Computer Company. His contribution at Apple was incorporated in the 3 Apple products iPhone, iPad and Apple Watch.Donnie loved music and he was an accomplished pianist, organist and classical guitarist. He was a trumpet player in the Cookeville High School Marching Band and in the Vanderbilt University marching band. He served as church organist at Eastwood Baptist Church for several years. He became a licensed airplane pilot in the year 2000. Donnie loved playing a game of golf with his father and friends. In fact, one summer, they hardly missed a day of playing golf at many different golf courses. Also, Donnie loved snow skiing and traveled to lots of ski resorts to enjoy that activity. He also introduced his parents to snow skiing and they traveled to several resorts to enjoy skiing together. Donnie was an avid ice skater for the past 15 years. He really enjoyed ice dancing.He is survived by his wife Karen Pieper and their children; a daughter, Samantha Ramsey and twin sons Ian Donald Ramsey and Clayton William Ramsey. He is sadly missed by his mother Mildred Lucille Ramsey; father Donald C. Ramsey, Sr. and a host of family and friends.Pallbearers: Dave Reha, Clark Anderson, Chris Tadevich, Tom Chanak, Alan Gilchrist, Phil Angelico
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