Bayard “Bud” Towle Ramsay

1927 - 1988

Born in Watertown, MA to Harry and Dorothy Ramsay and the firstborn of three (brother Arlen, sister Sandra). Little is known about Bud’s early childhood years… He would grow to be 6’4”and was always taller than others his age... As a teenager he was very much an under-achiever, getting mediocre-to-poor marks in school, hanging out with “the wrong crowd”, and started smoking when he was 13. Harry and Dorothy felt he needed a huge dose of discipline and sent him off to Peekskill Military Academy in Poughkeepsie, NY, where he began to develop the life skills that would stead him well in his adult years. Ever a “rebel”, Bud joined the navy when he was 15, only to be booted out for being under age (his height suggested he could actually be 18 as he’d lied about in his application).

Having graduated (barely) from Peekskill, he matriculated to the University of Michigan, where he ultimately met Virginia “Ginny” Coffin, who would become his bride in less than two years. While at Michigan Bud was a member of the Delta Kappa Epsilon “Deke” fraternity and was the prototypical “frat boy”. He partied hard, studied seldom, and was more interested in starting a family than going to school.

He and Ginny both dropped out of the U of M to do just that. They married November 27, 1948 and settled in Albion, MI, where Bud had landed a job with Union Steel, a company that made equipment for the baking industry. Son Dick (named after Ginny’s father) was born to them less than a year later.

Shortly thereafter Bud answered a calling he had to serve our country, joining the Marine Corps... He moved his small family to Morehead City, NC, where at Camp Lejeune he completed his basic training, and where, in August of 1952 he and Ginny welcomed daughter Kelly. Bud went on to serve for two years, much of that time in Okinawa around the onset of the Korean War. Were he with us today he would tell you that the Corps was the best thing that ever happened to him, instilling in him both a discipline and a strong work ethic, attributes that until then had been largely absent.

After earning an honorable discharge from the Marines, the family returned to Albion, where Bud once again worked for Union Steel, and where daughter Laura Susan “Su-Su” was born (May 1954).

Shortly thereafter Bud and Ginny pulled up stakes and moved the family to Southern California, heeding the famous words of Horace Greely… “Go west young man”. He was a district manager for Mobil Oil for 6 years, when an opportunity that would prove to define his professional life came to him from Rubbermaid—a Wooster, OH company. The move to Ohio began a sequence of more moves and more jobs—in North Carolina, Pittsburgh and back to northeastern Ohio all within a 3 year period. One thing is certain, Bud always answered the call of opportunity in his desire to care for his family.

Finally settling in Aurora, OH, he built a manufacturer’s rep agency that became a model company in the commercial foodservice and janitorial supply channels, a company that thrived long after his passing under the leadership of his son Dick and daughter Kelly. He was an excellent teacher, instilling in his associates a professionalism often lacking in other rep agencies. And, to his everlasting credit, he achieved the rare distinction of having the profound respect of his employees, his peers, his principals and his customers, no small feat in a competitive business environment.

B.T. Ramsay died of a heart attack at age 61, no doubt owing primarily to a heavy smoking habit he was never able to break. He was tragically predeceased by his daughter Su-Su in May of 1981.

Bud was a very good golfer, loved music (especially jazz) but couldn’t sing a lick and loved his Beefeater martinis and a spirited game of gin rummy. He was a grandfather to three, a step granddad to one, and a hopeless romantic, crying easily in happy times. However, he had an emotional toughness about him that helped him and Ginny stay the course when times weren’t so good... He was quiet, but when he spoke, people listened. He liked to say that he “learned the wisdom of keeping his mouth shut at a young age”.

Bud Ramsay “checked all the boxes”…good husband, good father, good provider, good advisor, good friend, good guy.

Bottom line... Bud was loved deeply by his wife, family and friends, and was disliked by no one.