Dr. Timothy
Ramacciotti
October 10, 1962 to April 16, 2021
Tim was a gentle soul with a loving spirit, caring, generous
and thoughtful. He was a loyal and loving friend with a wondrous, quirky sense
of humor, a cheeky grin with a warm hug always on offer. It was his
open-hearted love of family, friends and animals that showed what a beautiful
man he was. He deeply loved his family and friends, and brought much joy and
laughter into their lives. Tim was a skilled, compassionate and dedicated
researcher and doctor, saving many lives and helping countless others during
his years in the field of medicine.
Tim was also a brave explorer who loved to travel and made
friends throughout the world. He had a strong sense of ethics and cared
passionately about social justice, the environment and rescue animals. Tim
loved to garden and was always planting seeds or caring for his garden. He was also
a phenomenal cook, thinking nothing of preparing complicated, fabulous meals
from scratch for family and friends. He was seriously into genealogy,
corresponding with family members around the world who shared his interest, and
visiting numerous courthouses in Europe and the U.S.
searching for family records. He was a man of many talents…an amazing computer
geek, he could fix a car, stitch you up, cook and bake like a pro, build a
deck, speak five languages and was very well and widely-read. Tim introduced
many people to the writings of Sir Terry Pratchett and Ben Aaronovitch.
He was greatly loved, and in his work and personal affairs
he lived an honorable life. We will all remember his kind smile and contagious
belly laugh. He had a sense of humor which brought light into even the most
unfortunate of circumstances. He was very spontaneous and would come up with
fun and zany things to do, like convincing his mother and brother to go
skydiving many years ago.
Tim was born in St. Louis, Missouri
in October 1962. When he was 9 his parents divorced, and soon after that Tim,
his mom and brothers moved to Massachusetts
where they worked on an old New England house. They
later moved to Greenfield, Massachusetts
into another old New England house without central heat,
just a wood stove. There were times when Tim’s mustache had frost on it when he
woke up in the morning.
He began competitive diving in his teens and kept it up for
many years, including participating and winning medals in two Gay Games - San
Francisco in 1987 and Sydney in 2002. His last year of
college at University of Massachusetts
was spent as an exchange student in Germany.
While there, he traveled a great deal throughout Europe
and into Africa, including scuba diving in the Red
Sea. He especially loved being near the ocean, and loved swimming,
diving, and surfing. Probably his favorite place of all was Maroubra
Beach in New
South Wales, Australia
where he lived for many years.
After college Tim worked for a few years in Boston,
Massachusetts and while there joined the
Gay Men’s Chorus which he greatly enjoyed. Tim lived in Seattle,
Washington, before deciding to become a
doctor. He returned to Boston for
pre-med studies at Harvard while doing research in AIDS/HIV, and then studied medicine at Case Western School of
Medicine in Cleveland, Ohio.
After his third year of medical school Tim moved to Sydney,
Australia where he
received a Masters in Public Health from the University
of New South Wales. He absolutely
fell in love with Australia
and determined to return when he finished medical school the following year. After
graduating from Case Western School of Medicine in 2003, he moved permanently
to Australia.
He accepted a position at the University
of New South Wales which included
an offer to sponsor him for citizenship. Tim obtained his medical license in New
South Wales, and then worked in surgical, emergency
and general medicine in Australia
for the remainder of his life.
In his life, Tim lived and dealt with many physical and
mental health challenges. Tim was a member of the AA community for over 30 years,
helping many others get sober and maintain their sobriety. Some of the people
he met in those rooms became his closest friends.
Tim died suddenly at home in Perth in Western Australia.
We believe he died peacefully in his sleep. He was the beloved son and stepson
of Tina Tucker and Chris
Basiletti, Paul and Beth
Ramacciotti, much-loved brother of Christopher and Debbi
Ramacciotti and Paul and Ai
Ramacciotti, proud uncle of their children, and well-loved by
cousins and countless friends around the world who also mourn his passing. He
had a lifetime of family and friends, young and old, near and far, whose lives
were touched by his contagious smile, generous spirit and fabulous sense of
humor.
His close friends in Australia,
Niki Barr, Diane Bell, Nikki Brown and Gerard
Ruddy helped tremendously after Tim’s death. His family gives you great thanks.
Tim was a man of many talents, great humor and a generous nature. The world was
a brighter place because of Tim's presence and he is sadly missed by all.
He was preceded in death by his grandparents and his very
dear friends Barry Bell, and Sioux Hall, among others. He’s probably in heaven
playing bridge with his grandparents, and bringing fun and laughter to everyone
else up there.
Some have asked where to make donations in Tim’s honor.
Please consider donating to your local animal shelter (SPCA or RSPCA), or plant
a flower or tree in your garden in his memory.
A celebration of his life will be held at a later time.
