Susan Joyce Ritter

Susan Joyce (Holman) Ritter of Los Angeles, California, died on November 28, 2025. Susan will be remembered by her family and many friends as energetic, kind, and playful. She was an avid reader, loved to travel, and was happiest outdoors—gardening, hiking, biking, swimming, and skiing.

Born in Chicago in 1950 to Scott and Beverly Holman, Susan graduated from the University of Colorado Boulder with a degree in education, leading to a career as a much-loved ESL teacher in Los Angeles Unified’s Division of Adult Education for over twenty years. Her love of the Spanish language and the culture and art of Latin America led her to take several trips to the region. In the seventies, she lived and worked in Guatemala with college friends, and, later, she returned there as a volunteer with a good friend.

After moving to Los Angeles in the eighties, Susan married writer and creative director Jim Ritter in 1987. They enjoyed much together, including the company of friends, travel, politics, gardening, poetry, film, books, and live music. Their cherished son Zach was born in 1989, and the close-knit family shared many joyful times. Susan also volunteered in her community, working with the local environmental group Mar Vista Green Tent and coaching young readers.

Susan suffered sadness in her final years. Parkinson’s Disease took her devoted husband Jim in 2022. Her beloved Zach died soon after, in 2024. After a nine-year bout with Parkinson’s, Susan died peacefully in her sleep at 75. She is survived by her brother Craig Holman; niece Bella Holman and nephew Scott Holman; niece Elizabeth Pulsinelli and her husband Allen Compton, who lovingly cared for Susan in her last years; and a host of devoted friends, relatives, and former students. The memory of her vibrant personality remains in our hearts.

A celebration of Susan’s life will take place on Friday, January 30, at 11 am at Pierce Brothers Westwood Village Memorial Park in Los Angeles. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests donations to Mar Vista Green Tent (www.marvistagreentent.com), Invertigo Dance Theatre (where Susan and Jim took Dancing Through Parkinsons classes, www.invertigodance.org), or the Parkinson’s Foundation (www.parkinson.org).