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Tina McKinney Ramsey will long be remembered by family, friends, and associates for her kindness and giving spirit.

Tina died August 9 at the age of 58.

A friend, Johnnie Holtsclaw, shared that Tina was always helping people. “She was very active in church. She and her husband worked for several years with the youth and children. She was a great leader and teacher. The kids loved her,” said Johnnie.

Tina, as is her husband, James, was a long-time member of Valley Forge Christian Church, where she had served as teacher, sung in the choir, was a van worker, and Vacation Bible School and Christmas program director. She and her husband also worked in the junior church at Valley Forge Christian.

“Tina was gifted when it came to working with children. They crawled all over her and James,” Johnnie shared with pride.

Tina’s husband, James, said Tina enjoyed her time teaching the children at the church. “She certainly loved her church and church family. Tina was not only good at her church work, but she was a good wife and mother, and she had a heart for her clients at the insurance agency she worked at,” shared her husband.

Tina was a licensed insurance agent who went above and beyond to take care of her customers, many of whom became friends. She was known to pay premiums out of her pocket for many clients who were experiencing difficult times financially.

Tina was the daughter of Brenda Grindstaff McKinney and the late Roy McKinney, and she has a sister, Teresa, and a brother, Tim. Tina dearly loved her sister, Teresa, who is blind, and often served as a caregiver for her. “She would organize her clothing for her, and was helpful to her in so many ways,” shared Tina’s mother.

Tina was also mother to a grown son, Gavin Heaton. “Her family was very important to her, and she was extremely proud of Gavin,” said her husband. “Gavin was the light of her life and they were extremely close.”

James described his wife as an excellent housekeeper, but she didn’t care too much for cooking. “We often cooked together,” he shared.

But, he noted that his wife had so many more important talents, such as helping people. “If she saw anyone in need, she would say ‘we’ve got to help them’ and most of the time we did,” James shared. “After her family, her church and work were most important to her.”

James said he and Tina enjoyed vacationing at Tybee Island, Ga., where they honeymooned. Tina was also a fan of Elizabethton High and U-T football. “She enjoyed watching the Vols play but usually listened to the EHS games on radio,” James said.

“Tina was a very giving person. For the past seven years she had worked for the Yates Insurance Agency in Johnson City and prior to that worked for All-State. She was always trying to help her customers, and it was not unusual for many of them to drop in and talk to her and most of them got a hug from her before they left,” James said with a chuckle. “That was just who she was.”

Tina Ramsey was laid to rest August 14 at Happy Valley Memorial Park.

Tina Ramsey truly had a servant’s heart. Michael Puryear is credited with the quote: “Having our hearts in the right place is the key to servitude. If our heart is focused on serving anyone other than our Lord and Savior, then we cannot be the tender, faithful and true servant He requires us to be.”

Certainly, Tina had a desire to serve and love others, and that is one of her legacies.