Helen Ruth (Brandican) Ramsey (1898 - 1980)

Born 1898 in McLean, Illinois, United States

Ancestors

Wife of Julian Willing Ramsey — married 31 Jan 1926 in Waukegan, Lake, Illinois, United States

Died 27 Dec 1980 at about age 82 in Moline, Rock Island, Illinois, United States

Biography

Daughter of Nicholas W. Brandican and Adelaide Stewart.

Wife of Julian Ramsey. Her husband was a reporter and sportswriter for the Rock Island Argus.

Mother of Stewart Willing Ramsey and Carolyn Ramsey O'Hara.

Attended Illinois Wesleyan University and obtained a teaching certificate in musical expression from the Wesleyan School of Music, 1916. ^[1]

1930 Census: Julian W Ramsey age 31 b Mississippi; Helen R Ramsey age 31 b IL; Stewart W. Ramsey age 2 b IL. Julian R. Ramsey is editor of "The Argus." He and Helen were first married age 27. Helen b IL, father b Virginia, mother b Illinois. ^[2]

"Brown's Business college night school students celebrated the end of the semester with a banquet in the schoolrooms. R. E. Alverson was toast-master. Among those giving toasts were Mae Davis, Royce Evans, Winifred Donalson, Harry Admire, C. S. Kincaid, Gladys Cook, J. G. Lovell, Helen Brandican, Gene Hanner, Arthur Garbe, Mary Robertson." ^[3]

Obituary: "Helen Ramsey , Helen B. Ramsey, 1604 26th St., Rock Island, a former society editor of The Daily Pantagraph, died at 5:47 a.m, Thursday at Moline Public Hospital. Mrs. Ramsey fractured her leg in a fall Dec. 15 at Rock Island County Health Care Center and was in traction at the Moline hospital when she died. She was society editor at the Pantagraph in 1923. Mrs. Ramsey began her newspaper career as a reporter at the Bloomington Bulletin. Other newspapers she worked for included the Denver Post; the Long Beach (California) Press; the Illinois State Register, Springfield; The Argus, Rock Island; and the Davenport (now Quad-City) Times, Iowa. Mrs. Ramsey also was employed by the Rock Island Public Library for 12 years, six of them as head of a branch library. She was a native of Bloomington, a daughter of Nicholas W. and Adelaide Brandicon. She received her education in Bloomington schools and was a graduate of Illinois Wesleyan University, the college of music and speech. She married Julian Ramsey Jan. 31, 1926, in Waukegan. Mrs. Ramsey was a writer of juvenile stories, patriotic and historical articles, plays and poems which appeared in national magazines. Her one-act play, "In the Name of Miles Standish," was included in an anthology of "Fifty Plays for Holidays," edited by Sylvia Kamerman. A memorial service was conducted Saturday at Hodgson Funeral Home, Rock Island. The body was cremated. Surviving are her husband; a son, Stewart W., Washington, D.C.; a daughter, Carolyn O'Hara, Bala-Cynwyd, Pa.; and two grandchildren. Three sisters preceded her in death. She was a member of First United Methodist Church, Rock Island; Rock Island YWCA and Woman's Club. ^[4]

Sources

1. ↑ https://archive.org/stream/catalogueof19161916illi/catalogueof19161916illi_djvu.txt
2. ↑ "United States Census, 1930," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:X3MM-XHD : accessed 12 May 2019), Helen R Ramsey in household of Julian W Ramsey, Rock Island, Rock Island, Illinois, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) ED 78, sheet 2A, line 48, family 46, NARA microfilm publication T626 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 2002), roll 553; FHL microfilm 2,340,288.
3. ↑ "The Pantagraph" (Bloomington, Illinois) Fri 19 Apr 1940 p 4 https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/69147192/
4. ↑ The Pantagraph, Bloomington, IL, Tues 1 Jan 1980, p 11 https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/73109976/