John Erwin Ramsay, Sr., was born on 23 September 1915 in Salisbury, N.C. After completing high school at the McCallie School in Chattanooga, Tenn., he entered the School of Commerce at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill, N.C., later transferring to the School of Fine Arts. Upon graduation in 1938, he entered Yale University's School of Architecture. At Yale, he won a scholarship for standing first in his class, and was awarded second place in the annual Warren Prize, a national competition sponsored by the Beaux Arts Institute of Design. Ramsay's entry, a design for was published in the Institute's Bulletin in March 1941.

Although his education at Yale was strongly steeped in the Beaux Art tradition, Ramsay was influenced by the modernist vision of visiting professors such as Wallace Harrison and Max Abramovitz, architects who worked on the design of New York's Rockefeller Center. Ramsay also admired the leading exponents of the International School, including Le Corbusier, Mies van der Rohe, and Walter Gropius.

After graduating from Yale in 1941, Ramsay accepted a position with Carr and J.E. Greiner Co., a firm of architects and engineers who were retained for government contracts. One of his projects was the design of housing for married officers at the New River Marine Base in eastern North Carolina, later called Camp Lejeune. Ramsay was drafted into the Army in 1942, but later received an ensign's commission in the Navy. He worked on various war projects in Augusta, Ga., with J.B. McCrarey Engineering Corporation and Merry and Parsons, Architects.

While in the Navy, Ramsay met Jean Anne Ferrier of Washington, D.C., and they were married in October 1945. The Navy offered to extend his commission if he remained in service with a group of architects and city planners who were charged with replanning Guam. Ramsay, who had attained the rank of lieutenant, wanted to return to Salisbury and was mustered out of service in March 1946.

Returning to Salisbury, Ramsay opened the city's second architectural practice. Ramsay and Associates were responsible for the design of many modernist residences and buildings, including the Rowan County Health and Agricultural Building, Alderman Studios in High Point, N.C., and the American Square showroom for American Furniture in Thomasville, N.C. Three of his modern designs received Awards of Merit from the N.C. Chapter of AIA. Ramsay was also responsible for more traditional designs and for the restoration of numerous historic buildings in Rowan County, including the Rowan County Court House and the John Knox house. John Erwin Ramsay retired from active practice in 1989. Ramsay and Associates was succeeded by Ramsay, Burgin, Smith, Architects, Inc. of Salisbury and Raleigh.