Harold L. Ramsburg Sr.

Brigadier general was a businessman and Realtor while rising through the ranks of the Maryland National Guard

Brig. Gen. Harold L. Ramsburg Sr., a World War II veteran who started his own appliance business and later became a successful Realtor while rising through the ranks of the Maryland Army National Guard, died June 28 of renal and other organ failure at the Brightview Assisted Living Home in Westminster. He was 92.

His daughter, Kathy Faries of Sykesville, said he lived by the mantra, “You take what you get, and you march with it.” In the end, he told her his mind was ready to keep marching but his body was not, she said.

“He was a gentleman, and he was a man’s man,” she said. “He was very wise, in not necessarily the college-educated way.”

“He loved his country, and the Army, and everything that goes with that,” said his wife of about eight years, Nina Ramsburg. “He was a very kind, gentle person who loved his family and wanted to be with them as much as possible.”

The son of John Nevin Ramsburg, a farmer, and Jessie Baer Ramsburg, a homemaker, Harold Ramsburg was born in 1924 and raised on his family’s Frederick County farm, the youngest of 10 children. His father died when he was 10 years old, so he spent much of his childhood being shuttled between his nine older siblings and his mother, and loved to tell childhood stories from different places all around the Frederick region, Mrs. Faries said.

At the age of 17, General Ramsburg lied in order to enlist in the U.S. Army early, his daughter said, and deployed to Europe in 1943 for 18 months — fighting in the Battle of the Bulge. Before leaving for the war, he married his wife of 63 years, Jessie L. Day of West Friendship, who preceded him in death.

“They came out of the Depression, and then went into the biggest war that the world has ever seen,” Mrs. Faries said. “Sometimes I think the rest of us have had it pretty easy.”

After the war, General Ramsburg, a technician fourth grade in the 91st Chemical Company, and his wife moved back to her family home in West Friendship, where they raised cattle, horses and pigs. He also joined the 121st Engineers/29th Division of the National Guard, headquartered in Ellicott City, where he would rise through the ranks from staff sergeant. He eventually took over as commander of the Pikesville Armory.

General Ramsburg also started his own appliance sales and service company after the war, often agreeing to do work for those in the surrounding community who couldn’t afford to pay him in cash. “He would come home with produce, cookies, brownies, not always money,” Mrs. Faries said.

After selling the appliance company, General Ramsburg obtained a real estate license and worked as a Realtor with Long and Foster for more than 35 years, until the age of 85, using his deep knowledge of the land, his reputation as a man of integrity and his connections in the community to build a substantial client base, his daughter said.

“He was a people person. He liked to get out and talk to people and work with people,” said his wife. “I guess that’s why he stayed a real estate agent for so long.”

General Ramsburg also was active in the Glenelg United Methodist Church, where he served in various lay leadership roles. He also played on the church’s sports teams — basketball until he was 40 and softball until he was 50.

General Ramsburg’s family said that, of his time in the National Guard, he was most proud of the assistance the Guard provided to local communities after Hurricane Agnes hit in 1972, building Bailey bridges in Maryland, Virginia and Pennsylvania. He retired from the National Guard in 1989.

In his later years, he enjoyed spending time — and eating seafood — at his home in Ocean City, his wife said.

Services for General Ramsburg will be held at 11 a.m. today at Glenelg United Methodist Church, 13900 Burntwoods Road in Glenelg.

In addition to his wife and Mrs. Faries, General Ramsburg is survived by another daughter, Sharon Smith of West Friendship; a son, Harold L. Ramsburg Jr. of Columbia; five grandchildren; and three great-grandchildren. General Ramsburg “loved his country, and the Army,” said his wife.