Obituary - Grace Davis Ohrbeck

Thursday, December 21, 2006
THE JUNEAU EMPIRE

Former Juneau resident Grace Davis (Ramsay) Ohrbeck, 95, died Oct. 31, 2006, in Friday Harbor, Wash., after a short illness. She was a member of a pioneer Juneau family.

She was born Nov. 25, 1910, the daughter of Juneau pioneer, entrepreneur and early statesman, James V. Davis.

She and her parents lived in Tee Harbor during her early childhood, then moved to Juneau. She attended high school in Seattle. She then studied theater arts at Cornish Allied Arts.

She returned to Juneau and married her childhood sweetheart, David Ramsay. They had two sons. Ramsay was the Alaska Steam agent and the family moved to Sitka in 1949. They moved to Ketchikan in 1961. In all three towns, she was active in the arts community and the Episcopal Church.

Her family said she was a gifted artist, a talented piano player and a wonderful cook.

Wherever she was, she shared her talents. Through her life, she educated herself with reading and exploring, and was an inspiration to those who met her, they said.

The Ramsays were married for 35 years until David died suddenly of a heart attack. In 1971, she married Joe Ohrbeck, and the couple moved to Friday Harbor. He died in 1979, and she continued to live in their home on Limestone Point until two weeks before her death.

She is survived by her son, David (Jake) Ramsay; granddaughters, Heather Ramsay and Rhiannon Wolfe-Jones; grandsons, Michael Ramsay, of Ketchikan, and David Ramsay; stepchildren, great-grandchildren, a brother, many nieces and nephews and many friends in the various towns she lived.

A funeral service was held at St. David's Episcopal Church in Friday Harbor, and her ashes were put in the sea by two of her grandchildren as she requested.

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