Berkley Carlyle Ramsey

Berkley Carlyle Ramsey, 83, of Alton, Virginia passed away peacefully at his home on October 4, 2025, surrounded by his family. He was the devoted and loving husband to the late Rosemary J. Ramsey for 54 years and dedicated father to their children, Stephanie and David.

He was born in Halifax County on October 29, 1941, to the late Berkley Stephen Ramsey and the late Kathleen Murray Puryear.

After the death of his father, Carlyle moved with his family to Miami, Florida, where he met the love of his life, Rosemary. They were inseparable through high school and college and were married October 31, 1965. Carlyle earned his B.A. degree in History from the University of Florida and his Masters and Doctorate degrees from Florida State University.

Devoting himself to the calling of higher education, Carlyle began his career as a history professor and Assistant Academic Dean at South Georgia College and then went on to serve as Vice President of Academic Affairs at Union College in Kentucky.

In 1987, Carlyle accepted a position as the Dean of Instruction at Danville Community College in Danville, where he and Rosemary were able to realize their greatest dream of being able to come home to nearby Alton to raise their two children, Stephanie and David. After two years, he was given the opportunity to serve as Assistant Vice-Chancellor of the Virginia Community College System in Richmond.

Three years later in 1992, Carlyle was appointed to serve as President of Danville Community College. During his two decades as President of the College, Carlyle encouraged in his faculty, staff, and students a love of learning that stemmed from his fundamental belief that education is a key component to the fulfillment, independence, and prosperity of the people they served.

Over his 20-year tenure as President, Carlyle directed the College’s expansion in academic programs, facilities, and regional initiatives that made the institution a regional leader in higher education and workforce training. His visionary leadership led to the establishment of the College’s Regional Center for Advanced Technology and Training (RCATT), which has served as a beacon of hope for unemployed workers needing to learn new skills to find work.

After retiring in 2013, Carlyle continued into his 80s to look for ways to use his knowledge and experience to improve higher education in Virginia for the benefit of future generations. This work included gubernatorial appointments to the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia (SCHEV) and the Virginia Commission on Higher Education Board Appointments.

Carlyle’s noteworthy professional legacy endures today in the thousands of students whose lives have been enhanced by the prosperity and happiness that is the product of the work of the dedicated faculty and staff that he led at Danville Community College.

One student, a 31-year-old Pittsylvania County native who went through the College’s precision machining program, said “I never met Dr. Ramsey, but DCC gave me the foundation I was looking for to build a good life. When I take a chunk of metal and mold it into something needed in engineering, it is sort of like what DCC did for me as a student.”

To be sure, however, Carlyle’s greatest legacy endures in the family that he and Rosemary raised and loved dearly. A faithful member of the First Baptist Church of South Boston, Carlyle instilled in his children and his grandchildren a love for our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, our great country and its history, family birthdays, the Outer Banks of North Carolina, the Magic Kingdom and the Florida Gators.

He loved sharing the joy of these things – especially with his precious grandchildren – and was never happier than when he was leading a family adventure to Mount Vernon, Monticello, Walt Disney World or Gainesville, FL.

Carlyle leaves to cherish his memory his daughter Stephanie and son-in-law Robert Hurt and his son David and daughter-in-law Emily Ramsey of Greensboro, North Carolina. His treasured grandchildren include Ramsey Jane Ferrugia of Alton and Reid, William, and Alice Jane Ramsey of Greensboro.

Carlyle was admired and respected at home and across Virginia for his leadership and for his love of family and will be deeply missed by all who knew him.

Our family is grateful to all his friends and caregivers -- especially Robbin Baxley and Mary Smith from the Lumbee Group and the Medi Home Hospice team -- for their loving kindness and care to Carlyle and to us over these final weeks. Your love and compassion remind us that “God is not the God of the dead, but of the living.”

Carlyle will be laid to rest at home in Alton beside his beloved Rosemary. There will be a Celebration of Life service scheduled for Monday, October 6, at 2:00 PM, at the First Baptist Church of South Boston with the Rev. Bill Boelte and the Rev. Jack Stewart officiating.

For memorials and in lieu of flowers, please consider a contribution in Carlyle’s memory to the Ramsey Family Scholarship, Danville Community College Educational Foundation (1008 South Main Street, Danville, VA 24541)

Online condolences may be directed to www.powellfuneralinc.com.

Arrangements entrusted to Powell Funeral Home, 1603 Wilborn Avenue, South Boston, Virginia 24592.