Mariann Helen Ramsayer

Mariann Helen Davis Ramsayer 59 of Apex, North Carolina, passed away on October 22nd, 2022 after being diagnosed with cancer in July 2021. She was born in Passaic, New Jersey on March 10, 1963 and grew up in the tight-knit community of Carlstadt, New Jersey. In 1989 she followed after her sister and parents to North Carolina, met her husband, Chris, in 1990, and attended North Carolina State University where she received her B.A. degree in Accounting in 1991.
 
Married for 30 years, she is survived by her adoring husband, Chris, and her two wonderful sons, Collin and Carter. She is also survived by her mother, Beatrice Davis, and her five sibling and their spouses, Raymond Davis, William Davis, Tina Sodemann, John Davis, and Glenn Davis. She was preceded in death by her father, Raymond Davis.
 
Mariann was a loving wife and dedicated mother and daughter. She had an incredible passion for nature and loved health and fitness. She put countless miles on her road bike, enjoyed exploring the national parks and forests with her family and friends, camping and hiking in the North Carolina mountains, tending her beautiful garden, and took a great delight in local bird watching. She felt so blessed to watch her sons grow up and develop into caring, independent, young men. In addition to her family, she was so grateful to have so many beautiful friends to share her life and passions.
 
In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to Operation Catnip. They believe the most humane way to reduce the population of community cats(feral) is through the trap, neuter, vaccinate, and release method. Mariann felt that reducing the community cat population also reduces the predation of songbirds. https://www.ocraleigh.org/about-us
 
A celebration of Mariann’s life was held at a future date. A private burial was held in the Garden of Renewal at Pine Forest Memorial Gardens, Wake Forest, North Carolina.
 
Arrangements by Clancy Strickland Wheeler Funeral Home and Cremation Service, Wake Forest, NC.(919)-5567400
 
www.cswfuneralhome.com

Eulogy for Mariann

 Mariann was my everything. My devoted wife, my best friend, and the most fantastic mother to our two boys that I could ever have hoped for. She put her career aside to devote her life to her family, taking on the job of CEO of the Ramsayers, which she executed with love and joy that brought true happiness to our lives.

As the boys got older and more independent, she was able to pursue her passions further, most of which got her outdoors, into nature, her next true love outside of family and friends. Running, cycling, hiking, camping, birding, and countless hours gardening are all activities she relished and energized her. Flowers, trees, waterfalls, mountains, the coast, fields and forests along with all birds and animals are what she loved, and will forever remind me of Mariann.

But the people in her life were what mattered to her most. She wasn’t one to have tons of friends and host large parties, but instead preferred closer relationships spending one of one time with family and friends. When you were talking with Mariann, she connected with you and you knew and could feel how much she cared about you. And she looked out for you. She loves us all with her extraordinary empathy, compassion, and loyalty.

And what made Mariann even more amazing is how she viewed life and how she dealt with having cancer. Life is a gift and she appreciated the 59 years she had been given and the people she spent them with; her grandparents, parents, siblings, her husband, her amazing sons, and all of her beautiful friends. She faced cancer with strength and courage, living each day in the moment. She wasn’t distraught nor consumed with anger or self-pity. If she was scared of dying, she didn’t show it. She lived out her days almost carefree, spending as much time as she could outdoors and with family and friends, talking, hanging out, and playing games.

So much more could be said about how wonderful, beautiful, and amazing Mariann was which we can do so at her Celebration of Life. Today, we gather to eulogize her, and to be together as her family. Now it is time to lay her body to rest. Her spirit, however, is everywhere. And her love is with each one of us as our love is with her forever.