Sharalyn Ramm

     I was born in the early 40's in Grand Rapids Minnesota on a very cold December morning. Our neighbor Mr. Blair had a heated garage and let my dad use one of his cars to drive us the short distance the Itasca County Hospital where my father's sister was the attending nurse and my mother's mother the County Clerk who registered my birth. I survived that winter and one more before my folks got smart and moved to Vancouver Washington. After the shipyard closed my dad sold insurance for Woodman of the World and did quite well and we went on some very nice expense paid vacations and lived pretty well. His office was always in our house so I learned at a young age the extra care you must take if your business is to thrive. I never really wanted to do anything but be in business for myself and have been lucky enough to make that happen for most of my life.
 
When I was 7 we moved to the Greenlake area of Seattle but Dad was still working at home so we had the same behavior drill. My folks kept me very busy and I practiced the piano 1 hour everyday until I was 17 and my piano teacher died. I began my own schedule teaching in the fall of my first year at the University of Washington. I made pretty good money and could afford to drive an MGB and then a TR3 to my student's homes for their lessons. When I was the busiest I had 40 students,  the usual lesson time was 30 minutes but some were one hour. I was first married during my sophomore year and it was a disaster from the start. Divorced at the tender age of 27 I shortly met and married my son's father and we were wed for 24 years.  Three restaurants and one tavern and much investment in Real Estate later and after Scott, our son was on his own, I thought it would be good if I tried independence for a change. I sold, what was my 1/2 of the settlement and purchased the 2 apartment building that I still own almost 20 years later.
 
It was then that I met my good friend Don Ptacek and we have been fast friends ever sense. He and I watch out for one another and eat most meals together and I watch him use the TV clicker with great enthusiasm most evenings.
 
After 10 years of retirement from the restaurant business I had 4 foot surgeries and came to feel that crutches or a wheel chair were the most dangerous, inconvenient mobility devices ever. After all was said and done I invented, with the help of my friend Don the "turning leg caddy" which I now have 2 design patents on and the ONLYONE crutch "because you only need one". I spend a lot of time educating the medical field on the benefits of my inventions and have had some successes. My son Scott, who is both fun and funny, and a businessman of extraordinary acumen, manages all of my businesses and tries to keep his mom on a sane schedule that is just stressful enough to keep my interest high. I read Scientific American Magazine or Biographies every night and enjoy playing Bridge and Scrabble and Hula dancing which is my exercise and allows my to make new friends with much younger ladies.
 
I love being a member of Rotary and the many friends I have made and hope that I will be able to sustain this enthusiasm for many years to come.

Sharalyn S. Ramm
RAMM TLC, LLC
5700 - 188th st SW Lynnwood, WA 98037
(425) 775-7584 Cell: (425) 359-5022 www.rammtlc.com