LMPD officer's wife dead from flu, remembered as giving, loving mother
Leda Ramey was the proud wife of an LMPD officer, a Girl Scout troop leader, and a loving mother to five young children.
Friend and fellow LMPD wife Tessa Priddy told WLKY, "Just everybody loved her. She was your best friend, instantly."
Priddy considered Ramey a sister. Both were part of an LMPD wives' group "The Sisterhood of Strength." Ramey helped organize fundraisers following the deaths of LMPD Detective Jason Schweitzer and Officer Nick Rodman. In December, she organized a fundraiser for a sister who died suddenly, leaving behind a police officer husband and young children.
"She didn't wear the uniform, her husband did, but she was absolutely 110 percent a part of our sisterhood and she was always there to help," Dawn Beahl, whose husband serves in LMPD's 1st Division, told WLKY, adding, "It's a huge loss, a loss to all of us."
Ramey, 32, died last week following complications from the flu, leaving behind husband, Todd, and their five children.
"I think we can all relate because as mothers that's our worst fear, to leave our children, especially if we haven't raised them," Priddy said.
In the days since Ramey's death, "The Sisterhood of Strength" earned its name. But, they say, it wasn't easy.
"I thought about it Friday when we were doing the funeral stuff for her because you wanted to call her and say, 'What are you bringing?' She was always the one to take charge and tell us what to bring," fellow LMPD wife Jessica Des Ruisseaux said.
Now, the sisters are asking for help for the woman that always helped. Donations are being taken online for the Ramey family, with 100 percent going to her five children.
"We just want to wrap our arms around those babies, we really do. We just want to take food and feed them and take care of them because she would do that for our children," Priddy said.
Click here to make a donation for the Ramey family.