Rama Ali Sequoyah Dumbleton, 56, passed away peacefully on March 20th, 2025.  Rama was born on August 8th, 1968, to Duane Dean Dumbleton, former campus President of Florida State College at Jacksonville, and Mary Worthy Dumbleton, a visual artist. He was the third of five children in his family. When he was a baby, Rama faced multiple medical challenges, including being born deaf, with club feet, and a hernia. His early years were filled with surgery to correct these problems, surrounded by lots of love from his family. As Rama got older, his family learned that he also had Fragile X syndrome, a chromosomal abnormality that causes cognitive disability. Despite these challenges, Rama joyfully went to school at Alden Road Exceptional Student Center, graduating in 1986, spending many enjoyable years working at Pine Castle afterwards. One of Rama's proudest moments was achieving a ribbon in the Special Olympics.

Those who knew Rama knew that he was a joy to be around. Peaceful by nature, he could sometimes be heard singing little songs to himself, despite his hearing impairment. He enjoyed working and was known as a very neat person who always put away his things and kept his room clean. He even loved doing laundry! Rama was also notable for his love of stylish clothing, sometimes changing outfits 3 or 4 times a day to maintain his impeccable standards of cleanliness and sense of fashion. Rama loved poring through the menswear catalogs that came in the mail, especially King Size, where he would circle the things he wanted. Rama was also deeply spiritual. Raised in the Baha'í Faith, Rama loved Baha'í prayers and songs as well as Baha'í gatherings. He was known to copy prayers into his copy book as his own unique form of spiritual practice. His favorite movie was Moana, and we are all happy that he was able to watch Moana 2 just before his passing. Some of our best times as a family were spent at Disney World, where everybody could have fun together. We will always cherish these memories, as well as the memories of our day-to-day life with this unique and inspiring spirit.

Rama passed away from a rare, genetic heart-lung condition which gradually took away his body's ability to take in oxygen. On March 19th, he went into hospice and, within 24 hours, joined the Concourse on High. Rama was preceded in death by his parents Duane (in 2006) and Mary (in 2018), as well as his cousin Charlene Meadows (also born in August 1968) in January of this year.

Rama is survived by his ever-loving siblings, Layli Phillips Maparyan (née Dumbleton), Mary Bahiyyih Dumbleton, Nuriyyih Alexandra Dumbleton Ward, and Benjamin Dumbleton; his nephew, Thaddeus Hilliard Phillips, IV, and his nieces, Rachel Maya Ward and Robin Michelle Ward; his brother-in-law, Seboe Maparyan; his aunt, Louise Worthy Geer on the Worthy side, and many aunts and uncles on the Dumbleton side; as well as many, many cousins.

Services for Rama will be held on Friday, April 4th, at 11:00am, at Arlington Park Funeral Home, located at 6920 Lone Star Road in Jacksonville. Burial will immediately follow at Arlington Park Cemetery, after which time the family will gather for a private repast.