It is with heartfelt sadness that the family of Elaine Virginia (Buckingham) Ramsey announces her unexpected passing at 83 years of age on Thursday, Feb. 20, 2025, at Saint Mary’s Hospital after a brief illness.  

Elaine was the beloved wife of John A. Ramsey, having met him in 1959 when they were working at Howland Hughes and John brought a heater to her to use in the elevator she was running because she was cold.  After 65 years of marriage, John will forever miss her.  

Elaine was born on Nov. 3, 1941, in Waterbury, CT to Virginia (Stewart) and Joseph Buckingham where she attended Leavenworth High School. Besides her first job at Howland Hughes, over the years she worked at Lewis Engineering painting dials for aircraft, as a school bus aide for the Waterbury school system, and as a Home Health Care aide.  She was also the original coordinator of the South Waterbury Senior Citizen group where she planned many trips and activities for the seniors to attend.  For the last few years she’d been helping the Hopeville Neighborhood Association with planning programs for the group on various informative topics.  In 2023, she received a Good Neighbor award from the City of Waterbury for her work with the Neighborhood Association.

She was an avid lover of all forms of art but especially oil painting, travel, the beach, angels and her beloved friends and family. She looked forward to vacations with her extended family, especially in Cape Cod, Fort Myers and Myrtle Beachand her love of oil painting was well known.  She belonged to several art leagues including the Cheshire Art League and the Watertown Art League. Over the years she had been fortunate to visit all of her dream locations with her husband such as Ireland and Hawaii and was always looking to plan her next trip. She was also blessed to be able to spend 20 fun filled years wintering at their condo in Fort Myers, Florida where she made many friends and taught an art class. Elaine most of all loved spending time with her family and many weekends you could find her surrounded by them playing set-back, dominos, tri-aminos or some other game.  She especially always looked forward to having her grandchildren around.  They were the light of her life and were blessed to have been able to spend so much time with her.

Left behind to honor her legacy and cherish her memory, besides her husband John, are her children Michelle and Kevin Jette and Heidi and Pat (Pasquale) Summa; her adored grandchildren Pat Jr & Ashley Summa, Cleopatra Galanos and her fiancé David Pendleton, Ryan and Tess (Therese) Jette, Eleni Galanos and Kyle and Tifani Summa; and her sweet great grandchildren Oliver and Max Jette and Bella, Mia and Paulie Summa as well as numerous nieces, nephews and cousins.

The funeral will be held on Wednesday, February 26, 2025 at 10:00 am at the Fitzgerald Zembruski Funeral Home, 240 North Main Street, Naugatuck, CT with Burial following at All Saints Cemetery in Waterbury.  Calling hours will be on Tuesday, February 25 from 5:00 pm to 8:00 pm.

In lieu of flowers the family asks for donations to be made in Elaine’s name to either St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital or Wounded Warriors both of which were organizations close to her heart.