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NORWALK, Conn. Robert Lyle Ramsey, a longtime Norwalk resident, died Wednesday, Aug. 1, at Norwalk Hospital. He was 89.
Born April 8, 1923, he was the son of Clyde and Linda Marsh Ramsey. He grew up in a gas-lit farmhouse in Gilbert, Ariz., where the family business was ranching and farming. Ramsey majored in English at Arizona State University and minored in language.
After the attack on Pearl Harbor, he enlisted in the U.S. Army and served as a sergeant. After the war, Ramsey moved to New York City and followed his passion for theater by enrolling in the drama department at the New School for Social Research.
In 1946, he and his classmate Al Hurwitz, took over the Cherry Lane Theatre in Manhattan, where they directed, designed and produced shows. Ramsey and Hurwitz went on to produce a series of Shakespearean plays.
Ramsey launched a film career in the 1960s that would span more than 40 years. He designed and art directed sets for talk shows, commercials and TV series, winning many awards. During Lyndon B. Johnson's presidency, he worked as a set designer at the White House.
He was an active member of Preserve the Wetlands in Norwalk in the 1970s and '80s, leading its successful effort to stop the development of a major thoroughfare in local wetlands.
He was predeceased by his wife, Wanda Galezowska Ramsey; and a brother, Ray. He is survived by a brother, Earl; a son, Gregory (Nellie Weston) Ramsey, of Manhattan; a daughter, Katia Ramsey (Howard) Read, of Manhattan; two granddaughters; and a niece.
A private service for family and friends will be held in September. Online condolences can be sent to the family here.
In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to Westport Country Playhouse.
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