Bill Ramsey

William Ray "Bill" Ramsey, born in Twin Falls, Idaho, May 26, 1929, died peacefully in his home Jan. 9, 2006.

The funeral will be held at 2 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 14, 2006, at the Heyburn First and Second Ward Chapel of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 530 Villa Drive, Heyburn, with Bishop Frank Peterson officiating. Burial will be in Marion Cemetery near Oakley.

Friends may call from 6 until 8 p.m. Friday at Rasmussen Funeral Home, 1350 E. 16th St., Burley, and from 1 until 1:45 p.m. Saturday at the church.

Bill was the fourth son born to Lucina Freestone and William B. Ramsey. He grew up in the Burley area learning from his parents the love of horses and the cowboy life, the value of work and honest living.

In March 27, 1948, he married Glenna Loveless, the love of his life, at the ages of 16 and 19, a union that fell just short of 58 years. She became his eternal companion in 1963, when they were sealed in the Idaho Falls LDS Temple. Though they are now apart physically, they will always be together spiritually.

Bill and his bride eventually settled in Heyburn, where they raised four of their six children on a 40-acre farm. In 1972, they moved to Sandpoint, Idaho, where they continued raising their family while building a custom butchering business. Bill, Glenna and their children worked together to run the business.

Throughout his life, Bill worked as a butcher, a logger, a cowboy, and an all-around handyman. He was well-known by family and friends as a man who could fix almost anything, make anything he needed from nothing, and get things done quickly and with very little effort. Bill was a wonderful father, someone who cared deeply for his children and his grandchildren. Through his example, his family learned tolerance, how to work, how to pray, and most of all how to serve.

Bill loved horses. There was never a time in his life that he didn't have at least one to call his own. He worked with of all kinds animals, but was best known for his great horsemanship, and was asked more than once, "Is that your best horse because you use him the most, or do you use him the most because he's your best horse?"

Bill often said he was born about 100 years too late. He spent most of his spare time riding horses through the mountains, hills and deserts of Idaho, and personified a son of this great land. He was well-known throughout Idaho, as the teamster who celebrated the Centennial by taking a team and wagon the length of the wtate. He took the same team on the Sesquicentennial of the Oregon Trail in 1993, pulling a wagon for the Bureau of Land Management. He knew nearly every square inch of the state of Idaho, and could explain its geography and features. He truly gave reason for the people, mountains, deserts, and valleys to mourn the loss of such a great man.

Don't be surprised if, the next time you see a great fir tree on the mountainside, to see Bill standing near, looking up to see the grand creation and marvel at its Maker. He did a great job tending his part of the Lord's vineyard, and in his words, "I'm tired, now it's your turn to take my lessons and continue on."

He was a giant of a man in both body and spirit. His life has been somewhat of an endurance test with his life being spared miraculously many times and he attributed those miracles to the Lord. He had a strong will and a strong faith.

In his later years, Bill tapped into another talent as a cowboy poet. He has written over 100 poems and in reciting them has brought audiences to laughter one moment and to tears the next. His work truly speaks of a true western heritage. He was a member of the Cowboy Poets of Idaho and was well loved and respected by his fellow poets, who honored him with the coveted Silver Quill Award. He was a man of integrity and pride, without being boastful. He was never caught short to come up with a story, anecdote or joke to fit any occasion. But always the meaning or reason for the story came back to, "Do what you have to do, be self-reliant, and resourceful, problems can be solved, situations can be resolved and, what the hell, later on you'll find a reason to laugh about it."

Bill is survived by his wife Glenna; his children, Richard D. Ramsey and his wife Cindy of Nampa, Peggie L. Dunow and her husband Chuck of Nampa, Pamela R. Heberling and her husband Max of Blackfoot, Patricia "Patty" Pierson and her husband Richard of Heyburn, Bill Glenn Ramsey and his wife Corinne of New Plymouth, and Barbra R. Jarvis and her husband Greg of Denver; 13 grandchildren; eight great-grandchildren; and two brothers, Robert A. Ramsey and his wife Lillie of Burley, and Lloyd R. Ramsey and his wife Betty of Heyburn.

He was preceded in death by his parents and two brothers.

Arrangements are under the care of Rasmussen Funeral Home.