Helen Ritchie

Mrs. Ritchie, 88, passed away on January 29, 2006, after a short stay at Haven House Hospice following a courageous year-long battle against pancreatic cancer. Mrs. Ritchie will be held in loving memory by her countless friends with whom she and her late husband "Bud" Ritchie maintained friendship-ties over the years while living in Omaha, Kansas City, San Diego, Fort Worth and Birmingham, and also during their many years locally in Marietta and Roswell, Georgia. Mrs. Ritchie expressed her generous Christian spirit and devotion to the Lord Jesus at each of her family's homes through participation in church activities and numerous civic organizations where her artistic talents were put to use for the general good. She was particularly blessed in her widowhood by the loving support of her fellow members of the Alpharetta Presbyterian Church. Helen Ritchie was widowed in 1999 after 61 years of marriage to James Bennett Ritchie (retired from Lockheed Aircraft and then joined his wife to operate their appliance repair business, Brian Service, Inc.). Mrs. Ritchie's surviving son is James B. Ritchie, a Georgia attorney since 1966, who served as a U.S. Army Chaplain during the Vietnam War. Mrs. Ritchie's deceased son was Ronald Brian Ritchie, a graduate of Clemson University and later a U.S. Navy Flight Officer who was killed in 1972 in the crash of his Aircraft-Carrier Jet. This son was buried with honors in Arlington National Cemetery. Mrs. Ritchie was the mother-in-law of the late Dr. Teresa Ritchie (Mrs. Ronald Brian), an exemplary research scientist at the University of Iowa and sister to the late Mrs. Millie Sinclair Appleby of Omaha. Her parents were Eda and Peter Christensen of Danish birth, living in Omaha, Nebraska. Survivors also include two sister-in-laws, Mrs. Mary Jane Ritchie of San Francisco, CA and Mrs. Clarine Ritchie of Fort Worth, Texas; granddaughter, Mrs. Lynn Ritchie Kilgore, employed by the University of Missouri at Columbia, Missouri; grandson, Brian Patrick Ritchie of Sugar Hill, GA, a senior at Wesleyan School in Duluth; great-grandson, Alan Streb, a high school student in Columbia, Missouri; nieces, Mrs. Barbara Fetter of Seattle, Washington, Mrs. Barbara Delwaide of Arlington, Texas, and Ms. Paula Bosque of San Francisco, California; nephews, John Sinclair, AIA, of Lincoln, Nebraska, Robert Sinclair of Omaha, Nebraska, Don Foster of Overland, Kansas, Frank Ritchie of Rocklin, California, and Michael Ritchie of Fort Worth, Texas. A memorial service will be held on Saturday, February 4, 2006 at 2:00 PM at the Alpharetta Presbyterian Church. In lieu of flowers please make donations to the Alpharetta Presbyterian Church, 180 Academy St., Alpharetta, GA 30004. The family will receive friends on Friday from 2-4PM and 6-8PM at Northside Chapel Funeral Directors, Roswell, Alpharetta 770-645-1414. www.northsidechapel.com

Helen Ritchie

January 18, 1918 - January 29, 2006