Seppo Ilmari Ritvanen

June 8, 1946 - March 26, 2016 Seppo Ilmari Ritvanen Sr., 69, of Clearwater Florida, passed peacefully Saturday, March 26, 2016 of complications from a planned surgery. Seppo was born June 8, 1946 in Rymättylä, Finland and immigrated to the US when he was 13 to live with his older sister Esther Schroeder. Upon graduation from college, he worked at IBM for 23 years and was actively involved in raising his three children in Saugerties, NY until he retired to Clearwater, Florida in 1993. During his life, Seppo was loved by many people for his friendly nature and fun loving personality. He was generous to a fault and helped anyone who appeared to need it. He enjoyed fishing, dancing and making people happy and he never missed a soccer game or dance recital. He is survived by wife, Linda Ritvanen, brother, Pertti Ritvanen, sons, Seppo Edward Ritvanen (wife Charleen) and Erik Richard Ritvanen (wife Kynan) and daughter Kristen Alise Ritvanen Larkin (husband Lafir) along with 5 grandchildren, Miranda, Jonathan, Gryphan, Sean and Shannon, plus one on the way. He is pre-deceased by his parents, Jaakko and Aini Ritvanen and sister Esther (Ritvanen) Schroeder. Local private services were held under the direction of Sylan Abbey – Funeral Home in Clearwater, Florida earlier this week. A remembrance celebration is currently being scheduled by his children in Saugerties, New York in the coming weeks. In lieu of flowers, Contributions can be made in memory of Seppo to the American Cancer Society.