Ralph "Heyward" Ramsey III

Ralph Heyward Ramsey, III went to be with the Lord on Sunday, January 30, 2022, at the age of 86, after a brief illness. Celebration of Life Services will be held at 10 a.m. on Wednesday, February 9th at City Reach Church in Cedar Park, TX, and at 2 p.m., Saturday, February 12th at Church on the Rock in Lubbock, TX.

Heyward was born May 16, 1935, in Brevard, NC, and graduated from Brevard High School in 1953. He then attended Clemson University, where he graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Agricultural Engineering in May 1957 and was commissioned as an officer in the U.S. Army. He served on Active Duty in the U.S. Army from August 1957 to August 1959. While stationed at Fort Sill in Lawton, OK, he met Anita Louise Bull, and they joined in marriage on June 11, 1960, in Mangum, OK. She preceded him in death on October 23, 2000.

After his Army discharge, he went home to Brevard, NC, to become a dairy farmer. After farming for 4 years, he returned to Clemson to attend graduate school, where he received a Master of Science in Agricultural Engineering in 1963. He was then employed as a lecturer in the Agricultural Engineering Department at Clemson University from June 1965 to August 1967.

He received his Ph.D. in Water Resources Engineering through the Civil Engineering Department at the University of Oklahoma in May 1970. While pursuing his Ph.D., he was employed as an environmental engineer at AVCO Economic Systems in Tulsa, OK, from October 1969 to August 1970.

From 1970 to July of 1972, he served as an Assistant Professor in Environmental Science and as an Assistant Director of the School of Environmental Science at East Central Oklahoma University in Ada, OK. He then served as Director of the School of Environmental Science from July 1972 to August 1974. During his time there, he developed and implemented a curriculum in Environmental Science in which the first courses were offered in September 1970.

In August 1974, he became an Assistant Professor of Civil Engineering at Texas Tech University. He was instrumental in developing and accreditation the 5-year Master of Environmental Engineering program, which began in 1990. He was also involved in numerous research projects at Tech and served on many university and college committees over the years.

He retired from Texas Tech in May 2011 after 37 years of dedicated service. He was honored with a retirement dinner with past and present students fondly remembering his unique teaching style, fatherly academic advisement, and his warm Southern drawl. One of his colleagues, in a recommendation letter nominating him for a teaching award, noted: "Heyward is the one faculty member that our alumni always ask about when we see them after graduation. They all have their stories about the "Ramsey rules" and the care he demonstrated for their education and professional success through his teaching and advising."

He was a registered professional engineer in the state of Texas, a member of the American Society of Civil Engineers, a member of Chi Epsilon, and a Diplomate Environmental Engineer (DEE) in the American Academy of Environmental Engineers.

Outside of his pursuit of excellence in education, He was an active member and deacon at First Baptist Church of Lubbock. Upon joining the church in 1974, he continuously taught Sunday school in the university student and adult classes. His longest-running assignment at FBC was as the teacher of the ADULT 5 couples class through which he, his wife, and two sons have been eternally blessed by the relationships and love forged within that caring, close-knit class.

In addition, he served as a long-term board member of the Gilbert Herrera Evangelistic Association, a revival outreach and prison ministry near and dear to his heart.

In 2001, he began teaching courses at My Father's House in Lubbock. It was there that he found love again when he met another staff member, Stephanie Reed. On August 12, 2006, he and Stephanie were married in Brevard, NC.

He and Stephanie were members at Church on the Rock from 2006 to 2017. While there, they played an active role as church elders, leaders in the Transformation ministry, life group leaders, and lead volunteers at the Dream Center.

In July 2017, he and Stephanie moved to Leander, TX. They joined City Reach Church. Through City Reach, they continued their ministry by serving as elders, small group leaders, Dream Team volunteers, and Freedom Ministry leaders. They also became certified directors in SYMBIS (Saving Your Marriage Before It Starts). In addition, Heyward became an ordained minister and held a certificate in Christian Counseling.

He is predeceased by his parents (Ralph Jr. and Mary), his wife, Anita, and her mother/his beloved mother-in-law (Ola Mae Bull).

Survivors include his wife, Stephanie Josey Reed Ramsey; two sisters, Mary Ann Norris of Eutawville, SC and Sarah McCarty of Brevard NC; and brother Gayle of Brevard NC; his two sons, Ralph (IV) of Lubbock, TX and James (wife Mary, Rachel, and Reese) of Sugar Land, TX; Chip Reed (wife Sara, Jace, and Dyllann) of Cedar Park, TX; Chad Reed (wife Courtney, Caleb, and Brooks) of Spicewood, TX; Castle Reed Cuevas (husband Chris, Hudson, and Havyn) of Cedar Park, TX; and Chanee Reed Carlson (son Ethan) of Cedar Park, TX; five brothers-in-law (Jim Ed and Ricky Bull and their families; David, Jody, and Jimmy Jon Josey along with their families); and 23 nieces and nephews.

In lieu of flowers, the family suggests memorials to either one of the following ministries:

1. City Reach Church

(designation/memo: Legacy Fund in honor of Heyward Ramsey)

3502 Hatch Road

Cedar Park, TX 78613

(or online at cityreach.church/give)

2. Gilbert Herrera Evangelistic Association

P.O. Box 11341

Lubbock, TX 79408

Funeral arrangements are being made through Beck Funeral Home in Cedar Park (https://www.beckchapels.com/). Entombment will be in Lubbock at Resthaven Mausoleum under the direction of Resthaven Funeral Home.

LINKS

BECK FUNERAL HOME

Lubbock Avalanche-Journal Memoriams

http://www.lubbockonline.com