Carl E. Ransden, 73
WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. - Carl E. Ransden, 73, of 44 Grandview Drive died Thursday, Dec. 26, 2013, at the North Adams Regional Hospital.
Born in North Adams on May 28, 1940, son of John E. and Vera Bramble Ransden, he graduated from the former Williamstown High School in 1958 and from Norwich University in Northfield, Vt., in 1962 with a bachelor's degree in biology and a commission as a lieutenant in the Army Reserve. He also pursued graduate studies at the University of Illinois.
An Army veteran of the Vietnam War, he served 13 years as a captain in the Army Medical Service Corps and was decorated with the Bronze Star and two Army Commendation Medals.
Mr. Ransden was employed as an administrator and manager in the hospital and nursing home industry. Upon his return to this area in 1984, he was a sales representative for MetLife until his retirement in 2004.
He was a communicant of the Parish of Sts. Patrick and Raphael, where he served as a lector. He was an avid reader, historian, hunter, fisherman and bicyclist. He had great pride in and love for his children.
He leaves his cherished wife, the former Margaret Heischmidt, whom he married Sept. 14, 1963; a daughter, Jo Ellen Iskowitz and her husband, Reuben, of Bennington, Vt.; two sons, Ed Ransden of St. Louis and Jeffrey Ransden and his wife, Susan, of Fairfield, Conn., and three grandchildren, Katherine, Mitchell and Emmett Ransden.
FUNERAL NOTICE - A Liturgy of Christian Burial will be celebrated Tuesday, Dec. 31, at 11 a.m. at St. Patrick's Church in Williamstown. Burial with military honors will follow in Eastlawn Cemetery.
Calling hours will be Monday, Dec. 30, from 5 to 7 at Flynn & Dagnoli-Montagna Home for Funerals, West Chapels, 521 West Main St., North Adams. Memorial donations are suggested for the St. Patrick & Raphael Meals Ministry Program or Norwich University's Norwich Fund through the funeral home