Alan J Ramias

On the afternoon of January 24, 2026, surrounded by his loving family, Alan Ramias passed away. Alan J. Ramias was born May 25, 1947, in Merrill, Wisconsin, and grew up in rural Wisconsin with his brother Edward and sister Sandra Ann (Sandy). Alan has three children, Jason (Mai) Ramias, Chris (Sarah) Ramias and Molly (Lex) McCoy, along with two granddaughters, Addison and Brynley. He was married to Lory Lanese for 40 years, celebrating their anniversary on January 18th before his passing. He loved his family, friends and furry dogs and feline family members, of which there were many.

He and his wife shared many wonderful homes in New Mexico and Arizona. Alan especially treasured the spiritual nature of New Mexico. He valued his family and friendships. He liked kidding around, sharing anecdotes and trivia, and telling stories. He traveled solo and with his wife, appreciating various destinations and cultures such as Italy, Ireland, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Thailand, Denmark, Germany, France, as well as exploring the many beautiful cities, landscapes and historical sites of the US. He loved the three cruises to Alaska they took, enjoying a large variety of experiences that were offered. On a Mediterranean cruise three of his favorite spots were Malta, Sicily, and Pompeii.

After graduating from high school, Alan joined the Army. He served in the Republic of Vietnam from 1967-1968. He was an Information Specialist, Reporter. He received the Vietnam Service Metal with/1 Bronze Service Star, National Defense Service Metal and Republic of Vietnam Campaign metal. His DD214 states that he was an expert with a rifle. He finished his service in Fort Hood, Texas. In 2018 he returned to Vietnam for Jason's wedding and reconnected with his service memories. He took Lory in Ho Chi Min City (Saigon) to the bar where reporters use to hang out.

After getting out of the service he went to college to get his undergraduate degree at University of Wisconsin Parkside then he later completed his MBA at Lake Forest Graduate School of Management. He landed a job with an insurance company in Chicago working in the training department as he was an excellent writer. After several years, he obtained employment with Motorola, during its hey day moving from the Chicago area to Phoenix, Arizona.

Alan had a long and storied career as a process improvement consultant. Alan was a key participant in the first groundbreaking projects in process improvement at Motorola in the 1980s – work that eventually was packaged as the Six Sigma curriculum and helped Motorola win the first Malcolm Baldridge Award in 1988. Alan went on to a 40 year career in performance improvement. He was a partner in both the Rummler-Brache Group and Performance Design Lab, helping corporations worldwide improve their processes and training an army of process engineers, including his son Chris. With his long-time mentor Geary Rummler and his partners at PDL, Alan co-authored the books White Space Revisited: Creating Value through Process and Rediscovering Value: Leading the 3-D Enterprise to Sustainable Success. He also published hundreds of articles on performance improvement over the years, in the ISPI and ASTD journals, Training magazine, the 2016 book Questioning BPM, the 2010 book Handbook on Business Process Management 1, and in online magazines such as BP Trends, BPM Institute and others. At last count Alan's books and articles had been cited 60 times in research papers or books.

Within the past two years he wrote and published two non-fiction books based on his experience and experiences of others who served in Vietnam, titled The Bridge and Miss Moon. While the content is fictitious, many of the situations, dialogs and character events are based on things he saw, heard and felt. His goal was to help others visualize and experience what it was like for a young American. Alan was thrilled by the positive reception and reviews his books received and proud of his growing recognition as a writer.

Alan had a deep love of Western history and found joy bringing it to life as a member of the Arizona Gunfighters, a group devoted to re-enacting the storied gun battles of the Old West. He participated in the group for over 20 years. When he was a child he loved to play cowboys with his brother and friends, putting on his fake gun belt and shooting bad guy. He channeled a passion for acting into his portrayals of Doc Holliday, Virgil Earp, and other legendary figures of the western frontier, often performing on historic Allen Street in Tombstone. In August of 2017, Alan was recognized for his striking resemblance to the real Doc Holliday and received an award presented by Val Kilmer.

Family meant a lot to Alan. Alan and Lory made a point to get to Denver at least once a year to see Molly, Lex and the Granddaughters. He made sure to share a meal or a board game with Chris and Jason. He appreciated getting to see nieces and nephews on both sides of the family. His brother’s son, Steve Ramias and daughter, Lauren Ramias. He enjoyed time shared with Steve and his wife Lynn. Alan and Lory with Chris and Molly visited Lory’s brother Carl Davis and his wife Ginger Tanzmann. Alan and Lory visited Carl and Ginger a number of times over the years. In fact, Carl and Giner’s romance started when they visited Lory and Alan in Chandler Arizona years ago. Alan and Lory visited her sister Debby (Shipley) McClain when she lived outside of Columbus, Ohio and later in Fremont Indiana. One of his favorite family events was going to the Tucson Gem and Mineral show with Lory’s Dad. Most all the kids and family members on Lory’s side joined at one point in this event over the years. Clayton (Shipley) Cook and Halley (Shipley) Losekamp and Glen McClain all visited at different times.

After retiring from consulting, Alan remained an avid reader and embraced new creative pursuits through guitar, singing, and acting lessons. Writing and the arts were in his blood.

Alan defined himself as Husband, Father, Vietnam Veteran, Novelist and Western Re-enactor.

Predeceased by his parents Edward Chester Ramias (father), Esther Marie Ramias (Mother) and sister Sandy Carlson.

His celebration of life will be at Whitney & Murphy Bueler Mortuary at 14 W. Hulet Drive, Chandler, AZ 85225. The celebration will be held on Saturday, February 28, 2026, at 10:00 AM.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made to Arizona Animal Welfare League 25 N 40th St, Phoenix, AZ 85034. (602) 273-6852.

P.S. We cannot forget the pets that Alan loved. Sugar, Tucker, Opal and Pepper. Opal was extremely special and as a puppy would sleep above Alan’s head. Then came Danny and Newt, two senior dogs adopted at the age of 9. Danny especially stole Alan’s heart. Then came Paige and Chaz, two crazy mini-Australian Shepherds. There was a tribe of cats: Bagel, Bitty, Butter, AJ, Speeder, Bailey, Mitzi, Coco, Tippy, Ditto, Cleo and Mr. Meow. Alan rescued both Cleo and Mr. Meow. Tippy would sleep beside Alan or between his legs