Stephen Hewes Ramm

Stephen Hewes Ramm, of Columbia, CT, passed away peacefully in the early morning hours of Thursday, May 18, 2023. He was under hospice care at his home in Columbia following a strong and courageous battle with lymphoma and lung cancer.

Steve was born on September 20, 1950 at Hartford Hospital to Henry Hewes Ramm and Anita Fay Ramm, both of Columbia and both of whom predeceased him. He attended Horace W. Porter School in Columbia before graduating from Windham High School with the Class of 1968 where he was an outstanding student athlete, running cross-country and co-captaining the track team while setting several school records in the field events. Steve was a key member of the Columbia Canoe Club team that won the National Championship on Columbia Lake in 1967 and he raced in the 10k meter doubles canoeing event while representing the United States at the 1968 North American Canoeing Championships in Montreal, Canada.

In 1974, Steve graduated from Union College in Schenectady, NY with a Batchelor of Arts degree while running track and field. Never the one for a conventional path, following graduation Steve traveled and worked at a variety of jobs including a stint as a deck hand on a scallop boat and several years as a restoration carpenter on Nantucket Island. He was an accomplished sailor, loved the water and earned his captain’s license on San Francisco Bay. Steve eventually found his niche in information systems as a highly sought after consultant on projects in the US and internationally, always maintaining that living life was far more important than succumbing to the corporate world.

Steve was a lover of music and the arts, always finding a new music genre to follow and sponsoring more than one gallery showing in New York City. He was an avid reader, being as well versed on what was on the NY Times bestseller list as he was on political happenings domestically and abroad. He dressed well, played lots of golf with friends at the Willimantic Country Club and enjoyed an occasional cigar. Steve loved living on Columbia Lake in the summer and spending winters in Vero Beach, FL where he also had a great circle of friends.

Steve was the oldest of three boys; he is survived by the brothers and their wives who loved him for who he was – Henry David and Angela Ramm of Houston and Christopher Hewes and Patrice Ramm of Columbia. The joy of Steve’s life was his partner Robin Hlavacek of Chicago whom he met at Union College, reunited with many years later and who was his support and love as he battled the cancer that eventually took him. He leaves behind nephew Kyle Ramm and his wife Marie of Columbia and nephew Dylan Ramm of Houston, niece Lindsay Ramm-Hayden and her husband Elliot of Glastonbury and niece Marley Ramm of Houston, as well as great nephews, a great niece and cousins Nancy Brett Fredericks of Barryville, NY and Mark Brett of East Hampton, CT.

Steve will be missed dearly by family and friends alike. Following his wishes, he will be cremated, and his ashes placed at a favorite play spot in the woods  behind the home where he grew up in Columbia. No memorial services are planned. Gifts in Steve’s memory may be made to the Henry H. Ramm Fund at Columbia’s Saxton B. Little Library.  Burial will be at the convenience of the family.  For an online memorial guestbook please visit www.potterfuneralhome.com.

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