Kristin Anne Ringewald, 53, passed away peacefully in her sleep at home in New Port Richey, FL on December 18, 2025. Kristin was born in Chicago, raised in Hinsdale, IL, and lived in Charleston, SC, prior to moving to Florida. She attended Gower Elementary and Middle School and Hinsdale South High School before graduating from DePaul University.
Diagnosed at 20, Kristin struggled with mental illness throughout her adult life and never stopped trying to get well. Hers is a textbook case for much-needed reform of mental health care and treatment.
Throughout her life, Kristin maintained an earnest curiosity in learning and was fiercely interested in the life’s work, aspirations, and passions of others. She found her most fulfilling work with a court alternative program for at-risk teens, working with the isolated elderly aging alone at Little Brothers - Friends of the Elderly in Chicago, tutoring young people through Travelers and Immigrant Aid, and volunteering through her parish in Charleston with the Society of Saint Vincent de Paul serving people seeking emergency household assistance after natural disasters.
Kristin was beautiful, kind, and generous. She loved her family dearly and enjoyed making art and playing her violin. Kristin is now at peace.
She is survived by her mother Dana Ringewald, sister Erica Ringewald (Adam Olshan), and brother Jeremy Ringewald (Lisa), as well as her nieces and nephews, Madeline, Joseph, and Zoe Ringewald, and Isaac and Lena Olshan. She is preceded in death by her father, Richard Ringewald.
Funeral services will be held at Christ the King Catholic Church, 821 S. Dale Mabry Hwy, Tampa, FL 33609 at 12 p.m. on Saturday, January 10, 2026; she will be interred at Mepkin Abbey, Monks Corner, SC.
In lieu of flowers, please consider making a donation in memory of Kristin Ringewald to the MUSC Research Foundation, 18 Bee Street, MSC 450, Charleston, SC 29425, or Little Brothers - Friends of the Elderly, 355 N. Ashland Ave., Chicago, IL 60607.
