07/18/2015
JoAn Ruth Monroe Ramsay, born in Knoxville, Iowa on Dec. 27, 1924, passed away peacefully on July 18, 2015 in her apartment at Highgate Senior Living in Prescott, Arizona. She was 90 years old.
Her husband George William "Bill" Ramsay preceded her in death in 2002. She is survived by her daughter Janet Ann Ramsay Burt of Phoenix, Arizona; her son James William Ramsay of Lyons, Colorado; her granddaughter Celeste Annapurna Ramsay of Portland, Oregon; and countless students, performers, colleagues and co-conspirators, who participated in her tireless efforts at making this world a better place through music education and musical entertainment.
JoAn attended the American Conservatory of Music in Chicago and Michigan State University. She taught at Wartburg College in Waverly, Iowa and the University of Maryland, but she is best known for her private tuition of anyone with a yen for singing, and most importantly for her unrelenting efforts to put on shows all over the world. She performed concerts in Iran in the 50s and Nigeria in the 60s, and organized musical performances, ranging from children's shows to operettas, in Nigeria, Afghanistan and Tanzania.
When her husband retired from the Foreign Service in 1976, they settled in Prescott, Arizona, where JoAn pulled out all the stops to ensure that Prescott had all the musical performances, chamber music and concerts this community could sustain.
JoAn was a very active member of the Prescott Center for the Arts and also was the founder of the Prescott Center for the Arts Scholarship Program which is currently very active. When JoAn retired in 2013, her friends and collaborators celebrated her contributions to the community with a tribute to their muse, a two-hour compilation of excerpts from her shows and personal performances at the Prescott Center for the Arts.
Students, former cast members, scholarship recipients and supporters from all over the country converged to acknowledge the contributions JoAn had made to this community, just one of the many on which she had made an impact.
There will be a celebration of JoAn's life at 1 p.m. on Sept. 12, 2015 at the Prescott Center for the Arts, 208 N. Marina St., Prescott, Arizona. In lieu of flowers, JoAn's wishes were that all memorial contributions be made to the Prescott Center for the Arts (PCA) Scholarship Program, 208 N. Marina St., Prescott, AZ 86301.
Please note on your contribution "In Memory of JoAn Ramsay" which can be made by check payable to PCA or by credit card on PCA's website www.pca-az.net by clicking on "Donate Now" and complete the form and select Scholarship on the drop down.
Please visit www.heritagemortuary.com to sign JoAn's online guestbook.
Service entrusted to Heritage Memory Mortuary.