Obituaries / LJWorld.com

Obituaries

Services for Preston Marshall Ransome, 69, Lawrence, will be at 1:30 p.m. Saturday at Plymouth Congregational Church in Lawrence. Burial will be in Arlington National Cemetery at a later date.Mr. Ransome died Tuesday, Aug. 22, 2006, at Rolling Hills Health Center in Topeka.He was born July 15, 1937, in Willis Wharf, Va., the son of Edward W. and Lilly Mae Ransome. He attended Upper Darby High School and received a bachelor's degree from the University of Nebraska at Omaha.Mr. Ransome served in the U.S. Army for 32 years. He advanced from private to lieutenant colonel and served as a Green Beret and refugee advisor for the State Department in Vietnam. He also commanded a Rifle Company in Korea. He wrote the movie "King Crab" and wrote for TV shows including "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers" and "As the World Turns." He also wrote the audio productions "The 2nd Team," "Benny's River" and "War Surplus." He was a lifetime member of Disabled American Veterans. He received the first playwright award from the Maryland State Arts Council and was an Eugene O'Neill fellowship recipient.He married Patricia Diemont on June 20, 1969. She survives, of the home. Survivors include three sons, Christopher Andrew Fox, Houston, David Eric Fox, Charleston, S.C, and Bart David Ransome, Manhattan; two daughters, Claudine Sterling, Live Oaks, Texas, and Amine Nichole Bruce, Magnolia, Texas; and ten grandchildren.The family will receive friends following the services at the church. The family suggests memorial contributions to Relay For Life or Plymouth Congregational Church, sent in care of Warren-McElwain Mortuary.