James Tilden (Pete) Ramey
James T. Ramey Obit in the Crossville Chronicle
May 31, 1939 - Sept. 13, 2003
James Tilden Ramey, 64, of Crossville, passed away Sept. 13, 2003. Funeral services were conducted Sept. 15 from the chapel of Bilbrey Funeral Home, with burial in Green Acres Memory Gardens. Bro. Joey Whittenburg officiated.
Mr. Ramey was born May 31, 1939 in Pike County, KY, the son of Teddy Roosevelt Ramey Sr. and Gypsy Chaney Ramey.
He was a carpenter and a member of the Lawrence Chapel Church of God of Prophecy. He also served in the U.S. Army.
Survivors include his daughters and sons-in-law, Donna and Dale Short of Dearborn Heights, Mi and Tammie and James Goodwin of Crossville; son and daughter-in-law, James and Julie Ramey of Crossville; nine grandchildren; brothers, Ted Ramey, John Ramey and Jesse Ramey, all of Crossville; and sisters, Lillian Goodwin of Ohio, Gaylynne Wells of Oklahoma and Jeanette Hudson of Kentucky.
He was preceded in death by two wives, Dianna Sue Robinson and Francis England; brother, William Ramey; and sister, Geneva Padgett.
Pallbearers were Dale Short, James Goodwin, Josh Pugh, Sonny Ramey, George Robinson and Ronnie Tipton.
He lived in Crossville Tennessee in Cumberland County.
He was born 31 May, 1939 in Pike County Kentucky, at Beaver Creek, Elkhorn City, the 9th of 12 children of Teddy Roosevelt Ramey and Gypsie Adaline Chaney of Elkhorn City and Belcher Kentucky
Teddy Rosevelt Ramey, was the son of Henry Wilson Ramey and Melvina May of Floyd County and Elkhorn City Ky. Pike Co.
Gypsie Adaline Chaney, was the daughter of Abe Chaney and Saphronia Allie Belcher of Belcher and Elkhorn City Ky. Pike Co.
Moving to Tennessee in 1943 our parents bought a farm in Cumberland County, Crossville Tennessee at Woody Community.
John P., Teddy, Gaylynne, James T. (Pete)
I can only give my relationship with him from the time I remember which was when I was about 5 or 6 years old. He had the greatest of soft hearts and he was a very loving person.
I grew up with the three younger brothers, Jesse Ray, James Tilden (Pete), and John Patton. There was a daughter after Pete, but she died as a baby.
If Pete did anything mischievous or wrong when he was a child it was usually at the leadership of the brother next to me which was John Patton (Pat). They were inseparable as children and it is hard to write about Pete without mentioning Pat as well.
Everywhere one went the other went. And although Pete was older, Pat was always leading him into trouble.
Often then, because he was older, Pete would get blamed.
Pete was little and short for his age so they were about the same height, although Pat is 3 years younger. When he was about 12, Pat dared and double dared him into climbing a huge, tall hickory nut tree we had near our garden, he told him he would come with him. Pat got so far and wouldnt go any further. Pete, of course, had already climbed pretty high, thinking Pat was right behind him, and he looked down and fell out of the tree. We ran screaming to mom, thinking he was dead, but he had just knocked the wind out of himself and he was ok. They fought like cats and dogs at times, and I do mean literally fought, Mom often had to separate them, but they always made up. This on and off relationship between the two brothers continued throughout their life.
One month close brotherly friends, the next miffed at one another. But there was no doubt there was great love between the two. I, as the baby of the family, would never have both of them mad at me at the same time. I usually tried to be on the good side of one of them.
I was the baby of the family and, but I tagged along after them if I got a chance.
The three would take me hunting and fishing with them, Pete was a good shot with his rifle.
He was always going squirrel hunting or going to a local turkey shoot and usually ended up winning one at Christmas time.
They wouldnt let me use their guns I always had to track the rabbits in the snow.
Now that I think about it, they probably just told me to do that to keep me busy and out of their hair.
Jesse went into the Marines, and that left the two boys at home.
Pete taught me how to fish with a cane pole which I still love to go fishing today.
If you are acquainted with Rameys or Belchers, they have tempers and are extremely stubborn, and the combination of the two can make for a very temperamental person especially when you are young and havent learned how to control it yet. Pete liked totease me a lot, I guess siblings all do that to each other when they are young. He would play cards with me and taught me a lot of card games, which i loved. One time he asked me to play cards and said we could play a new game, and I said ok I'd like to learn a new card game. I asked him what it was called and he said, Fifty Two Card Pick Up" well I didnt know any different and said, "Ok, lets play" and he flipped the cards all over the floor and said." Now you can Pick them UP. UHOH Did I get mad. He started laughing and flew out the door.
Brothers!!!!
In the winter, a small pond near our farm would freeze over and they would go to skate on it or slide with their shoes on. They were told not to take me, but I would usually tag along. One time we were there and Pat got too close to the edge of a tree that was in the middle of the pond and the ice was thinner there and started cracking, Pete yelled for me to go get a limb to bring to him so he could let Pat hold it and slowly pull him back to the thicker ice.
On a farm, children amuse themselves in many ways, and television had just came out when I was in the second grade, I remember getting our first tv.
We lived in the country and our neighbor Lynn Carson raised cattle and had a bull in the field near our farm. We would climb over the fence and walk up to the bull as close as we could get and when it started for them, we would run for the fence. Many times I tagged along and sometimes sat on the fence and would tell them how close he was behind, other times I would go on with them. One time Pat got to the fence, and I got scared and veered off into the woods, the bull wasn't sure which way to go, finally deciding to head for the woods. Pete ran toward the woods and walked me around to the other side instead of coming back through the field and over the fence.
We teased mom's old red island red rooster in the hen coop the same way, We got flogged by that rooster with his large spur several times..
Mom raised bee's and had about 10 stands. Pete helped her with the taking of the honey.
The boys always worked in the fields and in mom's strawberry patch. She raised strawberries for the local cannery for a few years. He also worked for other farmers, bailing hay and loading it..
One time when I was 16 and went on a date, We went to the river with a bunch of other couples to swim. We went walking around the path, and ran into Pete and some of his buddies, the Bailey and Pugh boys. He was spying on me with his friends. When I got home. Mom said "dont say anything, Jimmy has already been here and told me what he did and he said you were fighting mad..
He worked at several odd jobs for a while and got a job as a carpenter making cabinets in trailers in Crossville Trailer Plant.
He started dating Sue Robinson, a girl I new in school, and a year younger than me and he married her.
Pete and Sue had 3 children, Donna Sue, Tammy, and James Leslie(Sonny) Ramey.
They lived in Plateau area in Crossville for many years, then moved into a home near our mothers land to help take care of her. There Pete had a fantastic garden, seems he could grow anything.
He had the garden in the same place our mom used to have hers and it was a very fertile area.
One summer I visited there, he had the short type of sunflower growing around the edge of the garden, The flower was so huge, I dont think I have seen the short ones grow that large.
He usually had a couple of pigs fattening up, and he had paw paw trees, he brought the seed back from Kentucky to start them.
A local newspaper wrote an article about Pete and his Paw Paw trees.
Link to Article
He also loved to grow ginseng, always had some growing.
Sue was the love of his life and she took cancer several years ago and passed on.
Pete married again later on to brother Pats sister in law, Frances England, but she was not to live long and he was a widower again.
He started working for the local elememtary school as a custodian.
Everyone around knew Pete, He was country through and through, what most people in Tennessee would say,
- "a good ole boy".
Gaylynne (Gayl) Ramey Wells November 2003