Karla C. Ramsey

Karla Charlotte Heinemann Ramsey passed unexpectedly on May 7, 2024 in Jefferson, Wisconsin. She was 85 years old. Karla is survived by her husband Paul F. Ramsey of 63 years; children Susan Linzmeier (Scott), Anne Marie Lucas (Peter), and Peter Ramsey; grandchildren Ione Linzmeier, Zoe Linzmeier, and Samantha Rohde; great-grandson Darby McMurray; brother Rolf Heinemann (Virginia); and numerous nieces, nephews, sister- and brothers-in-laws; and many friends. Karla is preceded in death by her parents Ursula and Ernst Heinemann, and her grandson Zachary Paul Linzmeier. Karla was born October 6, 1938 in Chicago, Illinois, and spent most of he childhood at the family home on Essex Road in Kenilworth. Karla attended New Trier High School in Winnetka, Illinois, and Lawrence College in Appleton, Wisconsin where she met her future husband Paul F. Ramsey. At Lawrence, she was a member of the Kappa Alpha Theta sorority, received a Bachelor of Arts majoring in German and French, spent her junior year abroad in Munich, German. Karla and Paul were married on August 13, 1960 in a garden ceremony at the home of her parents. Throughout their 63 years of marriage, they lived in Kenilworth, Evanston, and Winnetka, Illinois, Wayland, Massachusetts, Madison, Wisconsin, Ocean Ridge and Delray Beach, Florida, and for the last year in Jefferson, Wisconsin. Karla’s first job after college was as a high school and junior high German and French teacher. After the birth of her first child in 1962, she spent the 1960s through the mid-1980s raising her three children and serving her community as a volunteer in her children’s schools as Room Mother and with the PTA, with the Junior League of Evanston and Boston, and on various community committees wherever there was a need. In the late 1970s Karla was employed supporting the implementation of the Work-Share Program with the State of Wisconsin in Madison, and eventually studied for her Wisconsin Realtor’s License. After obtaining her license, she worked in the Madison area and later in South Florida as a successful real estate broker associate until well into her 70s. Karla was an avid tennis player and downhill skier, and sailed with her father as a member of the Sheridan Shore Yacht Club in Wilmette Illinois. She enjoyed swimming, sailing, and boating both on Lake Michigan and in the Atlantic Ocean of South Florida. Karla played bridge for most of her life and loved crossword puzzles, Scrabble, reading, gardening, and being with friends and her family. In her later years, she supported the work of the Dachshund Rescue of South Florida and adopted two dogs as a result. Karla loved to travel, which started in her youth with visits to relatives in Germany, and to Florida, California, Sun Valley, and Mackinac Island for skiing, sailing, and sightseeing with her parents and brother. Paul and Karla continued travel adventures well into their 80s, with trips over the years to Hawaii, Jamaica, Australia, Alaska, Vail, Michigan’s beaches and Upper Peninsula, Door County, and up and down the east coast of the US. They loved their 35 years in Florida for the ocean, beaches and warm weather. Karla loved being a grandmother and a great grandmother, and shared many of her interests with her grandkids. She was fortunate to have her youngest grandchild living close by, and the Alaskan grandkids to visit every winter. Karla is already deeply missed by her family and friends. To honor her wishes, there will not be a service. Her family will slowly celebrate her life by sprinkling her ashes in Lake Michigan and the Atlantic off of South Florida. Karla’s family asks that instead of mourning her loss, you share your memories of her with friends and family. Those who wish to honor Karla’s memory may do so by donating to your local animal shelter in her name.