SCARBOROUGH, MAINE — David Allan Ramsay, my identical twin brother, died peacefully on February 18, 2019, at the age of 69. Born and raised in Schenectady, N.Y., he was a nearly 50-year resident of southern Maine and a passionate collector and antiques show exhibitor until ill health sidelined his career in 2016. Educated at Northeastern University in Boston, after a brilliant early career in journalism, he followed me (it’s a twin thing) into the antiques business in 1980. Pursuing a very active schedule, he exhibited from Texas to Florida to his adopted home of Maine, exhibiting at major shows throughout the country. David’s tenacious personality served, as those who knew him well, both as his foil and his greatest asset.

Admirably, to the credit of his insistence on living an authentic life, he “outed” himself as a gay man in 1967, decades before such courage became common. When gravely stricken with esophageal cancer in 2016, he fought bravely to recover. Diagnosed with terminal brain cancer metastasis in October 2018, he beautifully embraced the perspective he’d been introduced to 35 years earlier as a member of Alcoholics Anonymous: the importance of living fully, one day at a time. He faced his last few months of life feeling blessed, with gratitude and grace. My personal thanks to his best friend of 25 years, Billy Winslow, whose unconditional devotion sustained David’s spirits throughout, unrelenting, as his end approached. David passed in the compassionate care of Gosnell Memorial Hospice, Scarborough, Maine.

A seaside celebration of life remembrance is planned for April 28, our birthday, at York Beach, Maine, our family’s four- generation family summer home and vacation site. Friends can get further details through inquiry to the website link below. I’ll remember him, always, with love, as my other half. Rest in peace, brother.

—Submitted by Doug Ramsay, DBRantiques.com, Hadley, Mass.