Robert Wayne Ramsey was born on October 9, 1920, in Byron, Washington to farm owners Prentice and Della Ridout Ramsey. He participated in the National Guard and was called into service with the 161st Infantry at Camp Murray. He met his wife, Georgia Kathryn Hayner, and they married on December 24, 1940 before settling in the Olympia area. Ramsey held many jobs over the course of his life. He worked in the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), served in World War II and the Korean War, taught floriculture at Oregon State University, served as president of Landscapers Northwest, as senior partner at Chaffee-Zumwalt & Associates design firm, a partner of Mann, Milegan, Morse & Ramsey in Seattle, and the manager of the Snake Lake Nature Center. While at the Snake Lake Nature Center, he helped to start the Junior Naturalist program.

After Ramsey retired, he continued to hold membership in many different groups and societies. Ramsey led hikes for the Boy Scouts of America and a member of the the Puget Sound Mycological Society, where he served as a board member from 1969 to 1974 and president from 1970 to 1972. He was also a member of the Tahoma Audubon Society, being a charter member from 1969 onwards, board member from 1969 to 1976, and president from 1973 to 1975 and again in 1983. He chaired the Nisqually River Basin Study from 1973 to 1974.

Robert Ramsey also was also given the title of Pierce County’s Resource Conservationist of the Year in 1972. He was also appointed to a statewide committee for non-point water pollution abatement planning from 1976 to 1981 and being a chairman for it from 1980 to 1981. He was also a member of the Pacific Northwest Key Council for scientific study, identification, and keys for northwest mushrooms from 1977 to 1997. He also served as a chairman for the McNeil Island Committee for conservation matters during its change from federal prison to state prison from 1979 to 1983. Ramsey was also an author, writing works such as “Two Steps to Destruction”, “Onsite Surface Water Management”, “Pathway Planning”, as well as preparing a hypothesis for the origin of the Mima Mounds found in Thurston County, WA from 1988 to 1992.