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Marjory Allingham Ramey died peacefully in her sleep on August 29th 2026. August 30th was the 79th anniversary of her marriage to Howard L. Ramey, who passed away in 2006. Born in Portland, Oregon, to William and Lucile Allingham (nee Watts) and raised in Tigard, she spent the majority of her life in Eugene. She is survived by sons Timothy (wife Gretchen, children Ardis and Clarissa), Jonathan (wife Debra, children Jason, Brian, Shauna, and Janet), and Christopher (wife Laura, children Claire and Annie), and seven great-grandchildren. She was a descendant of Willamette Valley pioneers and lived life as if she were on her own pioneering mission.
At age 14, she was the youngest female in the region to be granted a license to operate a ham radio. Her call letters were W7HER.
In her teens and early twenties, she was an active member of the Mazamas, summiting most of the major peaks of the region, including Mount Hood, which she climbed 16 times.
She graduated from Girls Polytechnic in Portland and began school at the University of Oregon in 1942.
During breaks and over the summer, she paid for college by working at KGW/KEX radio stations in Portland. Before she graduated with a degree in English, she met her partner for the next 65 years, Howard Ramey.
Following a stint in New Haven where Howard earned a degree from Yale University’s Drama Department, the young couple moved to NYC to pursue opportunities in the theater. They went on the road with several traveling shows and worked on the Tennessee Williams play “The Rose Tattoo” from tryouts in Chicago to Broadway. After the birth of their first child, they returned to Eugene. Howard had a successful career as a professor, and Marge spent several decades raising three sons.
When her youngest child was eight, she returned to work part-time at the University Housing Office. She became the first female Housing Director at the University of Oregon in 1984 and retired in 1992. In her various leadership roles in Housing, she mentored numerous students and employees who remember her with fondness.
She credited her survival of breast cancer in the late 1970s to her religious faith, the distraction of work, and her consistent swimming.
She was a member of Fortnightly and the Shakespeare club. She served on the boards of St Vincent de Paul, the University Art Museum (where she was also a docent), and the City Club of Eugene.
She found a spiritual home at St. Mary’s Episcopal Church, where she was a regular attendee for seventy years. She was a longtime member of the Altar Guild and a regular lay reader. Her faith and her church community were sources of joy.
Her devotion to her sorority, Delta Delta Delta, included many years of advising the local chapter as well as serving on the national board of directors and a stint as national membership director. The strength of the organization is evident in the love her sisters gave her throughout her adult life.
She used the experience of raising three boys to explain her love of sports, and particularly the teams of the University of Oregon. She was a true lifelong Ducks fan, a ticket holder for decades, and an attender of numerous bowl games. She was eagerly looking forward to seeing the opening game of this year’s football season—she just missed it.
She was a dedicated bridge player and a passionate swimmer, doing both until the very last.
Adventurer, wife, mother, leader, volunteer. Pioneer. She lived with dignity, spirituality, and grace. We will miss her.
The service will be at noon on October 22, 2026, at St. Mary’s Episcopal Church (1300 Pearl St, Eugene Oregon). At her specific request, there will not be an open microphone at the reception or service:
“If they don’t know me by then, it will be too late for elaborate (and perhaps inaccurate) comments from survivors.”
Memorial donations can be made to the Lions Sight & Hearing Foundation or the Eugene City Library.
