NASSAU| Bahamas Press is right now learning of the passing of Insurance man Fred Ramsey.
Mr Ramsey passed away on Saturday (May 24th, 2025) at age 88. Born on Bernard Road, Fox Hill on 24th March, 1937, he attended Sandilands All Age School ere, in his final year in school, was chosen as Head Boy.
He was a member of the Good Samaritan Lodge, Fox Hill Chapter, and he was also a mason belonging to the Free and Accepted Modern Masons. He invested in young men of the Fox Hill community by sponsoring a basketball team, the Ramsey’s Blazers, that played in the BABA and was coached by Harry McKinney.
Fred joined the FNM in its infancy in 1970 and served as Vice Chairman of the party in 1972.
Mr Ramsey takes credit for introducing the FNM to Fox Hill and first ran for the FNM in the Fox Hill Constituency in 1972 against Lionel Davis. He ran for the FNM again in Fox Hill in 1982 and lost to Frank Edgecombe of the PLP by six votes. He was again the FNM’s candidate in Fox Hill in 1987 but this time was defeated by George Mackey who moved from the St Michael’s Constituency, apparently to make available a relatively safe seat for the Hon Paul L Adderley.
Fred Ramsey is probably best known for his work in the insurance industry. He joined Abbey International in 1968 as a sales agent. He was very successful and quickly rose to the top of the industry. He served as President of the Life Underwriters of the Bahamas for three terms.
He was elected as President of the Presidents Club of Bahamian underwriters and led delegations of Bahamian underwriters to conferences in Toronto, Canada, and in Bermuda where he addressed the international members of the Presidents Club at the Castle Harbour Hotel.
Fred started his own agency in 1971, the Fred S Ramsey General Insurance Agency Ltd, Bahamas, located on Shirley Street. The Agency provided employment for most of his children and also provided insurance coverage for many people who were without necessary insurance coverage. Fred opened a branch of the agency in his building in Ramseys, Exuma.
Fred Ramsey is best defined by his work in the church. A lifelong member of Mt Carey Union Baptist Church in Fox Hill, one of the oldest Baptist churches in the country, there are few positions in the church that Fred did not head. He is a Senior Deacon in the church and has at one time or the other headed the BTU (the Baptist Training Union), served as Superintendent of the Sunday School, and headed the Men’s Fellowship which paid monthly visits to the prison. Fred also served as Treasurer of Mt Carey Union Baptist Church for some 25 years.
He was a member of the Old Folks Committee which held a party for senior citizens every Christmas Day. He built the first house in the Eastwood Subdivision, formed the Eastwood Association and served as its President for 30 years.
But his career in insurance and contributions to the community was marred when he was found guilty of bribery in a BEC Scandal. He was found guilty on 14 counts, involig how, as a former Bahamas Electricity Corporation (BEC) board member, he was accused of taking several hundred thousand dollars in bribes to steer contracts to a French company.
The verdict came after a Connecticut court ordered Alstom SA, a French power and transportation company, to pay $775 million in fines under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act for falsifying its books and failing to implement adequate internal controls. The company had pleaded guilty to the charges in a federal court.
The US Justice Department’s investigation revealed that Alstom covered its tracks by hiring middlemen to offer bribes to government officials.
American middleman Mark Smith, who had a previous business relationship with Ramsey’s company Caribbean Business Supplies Limited (CBSL), testified that he deposited the bribes in Ramsey’s US account for providing details of private board meetings; getting a reduction in fines that Alstom had to pay in penalties for late installation of the generators; and approaching a Cabinet minister to intervene after the board unanimously voted to award the contract to the South Korean company Han Jung.
Fred was a devoted husband, father and family man. He married Florence Dames of Fox Hill in 1957 and the couple raised five children, Marilynn, Fredericka, Juliann, Barry and Sonia. They also have numerous grand and great grandchildren.
For his life and work in the community we at Bahamas Press say farewell to Ramsey who has ended his journey here on earth. The Michael Pintard FNM and the media has forgotten your good works for the party but we at Bahamas Press and the country pray that your soul find rest eternal.
We report yinner decide!
