John Quentin Ramey

JOHN QUENTIN RAMEY ---OUR SPECIAL GIFT FROM GOD John Quentin Ramey died peacefully at home on Monday, July 20, 2020. John Quentin, the only child of Gladys and John Ramey, was born on January 19, 1983, at Southern Maryland Hospital in Clinton, Maryland. He was baptized at St. Mary's Catholic Church in Washington, DC, on April 24, 1983, with his aunt Doris Cuffey and his uncle John Edward Queen as his godparents. John Quentin was diagnosed as having language delay at Children Hospital in Washington, DC when he was two years old. His parents enrolled him in the Prince George College Early Childhood Development Program where he went on Saturdays to get special assistance with his language and other learning skills. He was educated in the Prince George County (PGC) Public School System attending Samuel Ogle Elementary School and CE Reig Special Education Center in Bowie, Maryland. His parents were not satisfied with the PGC Public School System so they had him tested at the Kennedy Kreiger Institute to get a better evaluation of his learning and mental problems. He was diagnosed as being autistic. He left the PGC Public School System and went to the National Children Center in Washington, DC graduating in June, 2004. After graduation, his parents let him take a month off from school to rest. In August , 2004, they found a Day Care Program for him at Ardmore Enterprise, Mitchellville, Maryland where he was a client until his death. He loved swimming , roller skating (he excelled at both), McDonald french fries, crispy fried chicken breasts and fish, navy bean soup with ham, steak, vegetable chips, chocolate chip cookies, lots of ketchup (he put ketchup on everything), vegetable salad, salmon, and any kind of leafy vegetables (collards, kale and even rape and turnip greens). He loved broccoli baked with lemon, pepper and extra virgin oilive oil and he would even eat cabbage and his favorite drink was Nantucket cranberry juice. John Quentin stayed at home with his parents until he was 34 years old. His parents felt that he was old enough to leave the nest and they wanted to make the decision where he ws going to live and who was going to care for him while they were still alive. They found a group home for him to live in Bowie, Maryland. Three other men live in the home and there are care givers who take care of all of them. Being protected parents who thought that no one could possibly take care of their son as good as they could, for the first two and a half years, they made sure that he came home every weekend and they cooked his lunches and dinners as well as doing his laundry. He adjusted to his new living arrangements well. . J-ohn Quentin will lovingly be remembered by his parents, Gladys Queen and John Wallace Ramey, aunts --Clara Leona Queen, Doris Cuffey (Arville), Barbara Ramey-Wallace (John deceased), Carrie Mae Somerville, Mary Cecilia Caldwell, Cynthia Murray, Debra Dyson and Selma Curtis; uncles--John Edward Queen (Bernice), and James Maurice Ramey (Althea), his great aunt-in-law, Agnes Thomas Queen (George deceased) and over 50 first and second cousins. He was preceded in death by his maternal grandparents Sarah Louise and James Louis Collins and his fraternal grandparents Theresa and Jerry Ramey. It's been said that it's heartbreaking to bury your child but we, his parents, have considered John Quentin's death a blessing because we always worried about who was going to take care of him when we were gone from this earth. He was an only child and even though he ws not living with us, we were stilll much involved in his life. We called the group home every day and if he did not come home on the weekend, we visited him taking him pizza on Saturdays and crispy fried chicken with french fries on Sundays. His father took him McDonald french fries and a fish sandwich with mustard only on Fridays at his day care. Sometimes he would offered his father some french fries and sometimes he would not. These Friday lunches were special times for the both of them. Now we don't have to worry about our gift from God because we know that he is safe and well and is being taken care of in heaven. John Quentin made us happy most of the time. We loved him and we enjoyed him even when he was not at his best. He was our "special needs" son given to us by God to love unconditionally and take care of. We had him for 37 years and those were some of the most rewarding years of our lives. It's hard to say goodbye to our only child physically but we know that he will always be with us spiritually. We also know that one day we will look up towards heaven and we will see John Quentin smiling and looking down at us and we will know that all is well. Family will be having a Graveside service at Resurrection Cemetery Monday August 3, 2020 at 10:30 am

John Quentin Ramey

January 19, 1983 - July 20, 2020