Obituary

Ritter, James Leonard

Funeral services for James Leonard Ritter, 87, will be at 2 p.m. Monday in Seth Ward Baptist Church with the Rev. Jim Ritter, pastor, and Dr. Travis Hart, pastor of First Baptist Church, officiating.

Burial will be in Plainview Memorial Park by Lemons Funeral Home.

Mr. Ritter died Friday, Aug. 24, 2001, at his residence.

He was born Nov. 14, 1913 in Carthage and grew up and attended schools in East Texas. He moved with his family to Custer County, Okla., near Elk City, in 1929, then to Plainview in 1937. He attended Lippert?s Business College and worked at Plains Food Store.

He served in the U.S. Army in Germany during World War ll with the 120th Evacuation Hospital from 1944-1945. He was a lifetime member of the veterans of Foreign Wars.

He was a charter member of the National Good Sams Club and the local chapter of the Central Plains Good Sams . He and his brother Melvin owned and operated Ritter Food Market from 1947 until retiring in 1982.

He attended Seth Ward Baptist Church and First Baptist Church and First Baptist Church where he was a member of the Adult 2 Men?s Sunday school class.

He married Oneta Duke in 1985 in Kress.

Survivors include his wife; two sons, Don Ritter, of Oklahoma city, Okla., and Jim Ritter of Plainview; one daughter-in-law, Betty Ritter of Hart; one brother, Melvin Ritter of Plainview; two sisters, Christine Lambert of Hart and Leta Holtz of Broken Arrow, Okla.; two stepsons, Gary Williams of Kress and Tim Williams of Lubbock; three stepdaughters, Ginger Malone, Gaylia Olson and Donna Bolt; 18 grandchildren and 17 great-grandchildren.

A son, Bill Ritter, is deceased.

The family will receive friends today from 4-6- p.m. at Lemons Funeral Home.

Memorials may be made to Seth Ward Baptist Church Piano Fund or to a local hospice organization.

Plainview Daily Herald- Aug, 26, 2001