ALPHA ANDÂ OMEGA
We honor our beloved Sisters who have left us in person but not in spirit.
Alpha and Omega
Alpha (Α) and omega (Ω) are the first and last letters, respectively, of the classical (Ionic) Greek alphabet. Thus, the phrase "I am the alpha and the omega" is further clarified with the additional phrase, "the beginning and the end" in Revelation 21:6, 22:13. The first and last letters of the Greek alphabet were used because the book of Revelation is in the New Testament, which was originally written in Greek.
JAN BURLEIGHÂ RAMSEY
Memorial for Jan Ramsey by Janelle Howe
Good morning and thank you for this opportunity to speak on behalf of Gamma Delta Chapter of Alpha Delta Kappa as we remember and honor Jan. An important part of Jan’s life was her dedication and love of AΔK, an honorary international organization for women educators. At time like this, we often describe a person’s life in years, months and days. For Jan, her Alpha Delta Kappa life was 48 years, 5 months, and 18 days. For more than half of her lifetime, Jan was a dedicated and respected member and leader.
Jan was a professional. She was always organized and prepared for meetings. We could always count on her for suggestions for enjoyable programs. She would read the newspaper in search of interesting stories and speaker. She was always looking for the names of outstanding women educators who might want to become members.
You could tell Jan was a professional by the fact she was always learning. This last year we had Zoom meeting and Jan had Ken help her learn to navigate that program because she was a faithful member and seldom missed a meeting.
I was always impressed by Jan’s attention to detail in her dress. It didn’t seem to matter if she had been working in her garden all day or cleaning house, she always took time to be professionally dressed for AΔK activities. She always proudly wore her Alpha Delta Kappa pin and especially liked wearing it on one of her beautiful purple outfits, as purple is one of our colors.
Jan always enjoyed hosting our meetings. In fact, when we held the 50th anniversary celebration of Gamma Delta’s chapter, Jan volunteered to hold the celebration in her home. She moved some things around and was ready for the large group that attended.
Jan was supportive of new members. She took pleasure in giving the fraternity education portion of our meetings and sharing our history and goals. Jan always participated in the altruistic work at the chapter, state and international level. She loved being our altruistic chairperson and was never late in submitting that report. If we were late in getting our individual report to her, we knew she would be calling asking for it. In just the last couple of years, through her work and donations, Jan helped support a home for abused girls, Ronald McDonald houses, Alzheimer’s research, and St Jude’s hospital just to name a few.
In closing I think it needs to be repeated that:
Jan was a dedicated and much-loved member of Alpha Delta Kappa for 48 years, 5 months, and 18 days. She will be greatly missed.