MORRILL – On Friday December 27, 2024, at 10 a.m., surrounded by family, Carmen Ramirez was called to her eternal home. Although heartbroken, peace is found knowing she is with the Lord.
Her Mass of Christian Burial will be held on Friday, January 3, 2024, at 2:30pm at St. Theresa Catholic Church in Mitchell with Fr. Mike McDonald as Celebrant. Interment will follow at Forest Lawn Cemetery in Morrill.
Visitation will be Thursday, January 2, 2024, at the church from 3-7pm with a Rosary Service being recited at 6 p.m. at the church. Online condolences may be made by viewing Carmen’s memorial page at www.bridgmanfuneralhome.com. Bridgman Family Funeral Home in Scottsbluff is entrusted with arrangements.
She was born on September 10, 1944 in San Miguel El Alto, Jalisco, Mexico to Pascual and Donisa. Her childhood was unconventional, from an early age her days were marked by hard work and taking care of others (these characteristics would be cemented into her for decades to come).
Carmen was raised with her Grandmother Lucia Losano Masiyas. She never went to school, instead she spent her time working at home, cooking, cleaning, and fetching water from the river. In her teenage years she met Gilbert Ramirez at a church service. Late at night, Gilbert would ride his horse to her family home, and they would talk to each other through a hole in the wall. Their late-night chats would lead to 62 years of marriage after they wed on March 4, 1962.
In 1963, they welcomed their first child (Leticia) into the world. They had also built their home in Mexico on land inherited from Gilbert’s father. Here they farmed and ranched and owned a convenience store. They would go on to have two more children in Mexico in 1964 and 1965 (Gilbert Jr. and Pilar, respectively). In 1966, Carmen and Gilbert left their life in Mexico to start anew in the United States.
Carmen never shied away from hard work; it was all she ever knew. She would work alongside her husband and kids in the beet fields in Southwest Nebraska/Southeast Wyoming, saving towards a future they had dreamed of. In the United States, Carmen and Gilbert would welcome their fourth child in 1968 (Pascual). It would be over a decade before Carmen and Gilbert were finally able to start purchasing their own land in 1982.
Carmen and Gilbert would eventually settle into their forever home south of Huntley. Here they would work side by side along with their son Gilbert Jr. as they started their farm and ranch. It was also here where she started to truly display her love of flowers. Every spring she would fill her flower beds with marigolds and over a dozen pots with her beloved petunias. Each year she would plant a new tree, rose bush, or find a garden fountain or figurine to add to her display.
Aside from her passion for flowers she also loved to crochet. Dresses, shirts, doilies, table clothes, blankets and many more pieces of hers were gifted to family and friends over the years and are now spread across North America.
In 1990, they welcomed their first grandchild. Today, they are grandparents to ten, and great-grandparents to 9 little ones. With every new child in the family, she began to adopt a new name ‘Mama’.
In little time, her endearing nickname would spread like wildfire. Extended friends and family would default to calling her ‘Mama’, a name that fit her desire to help and care for anyone she could. Mama’s home was open to anyone, from relatives seeking a temporary home to friends of her children and grandchildren. She poured her heart out into not only looking out for her children, even into their adult lives, but also into helping raise some of her grandchildren.
As the matriarch, Mama’s life revolved around watching over her family but more importantly worshipping God. She embodied Paul the Apostle’s admonition to always pray without ceasing. Her life was punctuated by tragedy and hardships.
Mama struggled with the loss of four children in childbirth and infancy, and for decades she battled with her health. Her faith in God never wavered, rather she clung to her faith tighter and found solace in knowing the Lord would not abandon her.
We now say goodbye to the hardest working, determined, stubborn, caring and faithful woman we know. A huge hole is left in our earthly lives, but we look forward to meeting her again in God’s eternal kingdom.
Carmen is preceded in death by her parents: Pascual and Donisa Ramirez, brothers: Victor Ramirez, Enfren Ramirez, sisters: Glafira Ramirez, Esaguara Ramirez, two children that passed in infancy: Nicho and Juan, and two children that passed in childbirth.
Carmen is survived by her husband: Gilbert Ramirez Sr., brothers: Evaristo Ramirez, Jose Ramirez, sisters: Lucha Vaquez, Maria Alcala children: Leticia Kanno (and Dennis), Gilbert Ramirez Jr., Pilar Ramirez, Pascual Ramirez (and Susan), 10 grandchildren: Robbie Gurney, Andrea Welchons (and Cody), Joaquin Ramirez, Rico Ramirez, Kasey Ballard, Amey Peterson, Tarah Riley, Jacob Ramirez, Mateo Ramirez, and Jason Ramirez, 9 great-grandchildren: Cayson and Brydger Gurney, Case Welchons, Jax and Murphy Ballard, Kambry Novotny and Jozie Mundt, and Daisy and Posie Riley.
