age of 84, surrounded by loved ones.
John was born November 5th, 1937 in Whitesboro, OK to
the parents of Joe and Lucille Ritter. John spent his early years in Tucson, AZ where he met his
wife Marie Vigil. They then moved to the Imperial Valley in 1959 where they raised 5 children.
He worked for Imperial County for 40 years until his retirement in 1999. He enjoyed the many
friendships he made during his lifetime spent in the valley.
John was known for his many stories and has left many memories with many people.
One of his favorite memories was when he was working on the movie set “Rio Bravo” with the
late John Wayne. His duty was to bring all the horses to the movie set in Tucson AZ for filming
each day. The filming days were long and in John Ritter style, he would bring an ice chest of
beer to kill time. One day John Wayne rode up to him and said, “Hey you don’t happen to have
an extra beer do ya?” Of course, if you know John Ritter, he always had an extra beer and
happily gave it to John Wayne. After drinking all the beers together, Mr. Wayne gave John $20,
which was a lot for 1958, and told him that he better bring more beer for tomorrow. In typical
John Ritter fashion, he bought the biggest possible ice chest and filled it with beer and ice and
went to the set the next day with the horses and beers. At the end of filming, Mr. Wayne rode
up again and drank all the beers together with John. Afterwards, Mr. Wayne gave John another
$20 bill and signed it saying “To my beer drinking buddy. John Wayne”.
John Ritter will be missed by his many family and friends. He is survived by his sister
Jean Shelton, his children Loretta (Bruce) Seidler, Aaron Ritter, Deborah (Henry) Flores, Teresa
(Lee) Duncan, Suzanne (Ray) Brewer, many grandchildren, great-grandchildren, nieces and
nephews. Graveside services will be announced in the coming weeks.
Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.mariposagardens.com for the RITTER family.
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