Arthur "Art" E. Ritter

Munising

Arthur “Art” E. Ritter, age 80, of Munising, died unexpectedly at U.P. Health System Marquette following a four-day diagnosis of brain cancer on Tuesday morning, August 9, 2016.  He was born in Chicago, Illinois on September 4, 1935 to the late Arthur G. and Arline L. (Krizan) Ritter.  Art graduated from Lane Technical High School, then attended Wright Junior College, before he graduated with Bachelor’s Degree in Chemical Engineering from Northwestern University in Evanston.  He married Doris M. Schuster on March 21, 1959, and together they raised their two sons.  While at Northwestern, he worked at E.I. DuPont, then for Central Soya after graduation.  Art was from the city, but he loved to hunt and fish, so he began looking for work elsewhere and found a position at Kimberly Clark in Munising.  He started as a Chemical Engineer and held a number of different positions before retiring as the Senior Development Engineer in 1995 after thirty-two years of service at the paper mill.  Art enjoyed hunting partridge and rabbits and fishing any chance he could.  He also enjoyed working on his toy train sets, he had built a number of sets starting with HO scale replicas and then standard gauge.  Art was also very talented with wood working.  He built his own canoe from scratch, and built his own home from the ground up.  Art and Doris enjoyed traveling, square dancing, and being on Lake Superior in their sailboat.  Art was an active member of the Eden Lutheran Church in Munising.  He served on the church council, did maintenance with the property committee, and spent eight years as the Director of Religious Education while teaching the 8th grade classes.  Art also volunteered as a Webelos Scout Leader and served on the Alger County Planning Commission.  Above all, Art loved spending time with his family, and was a great husband, father, and grandfather.

He is survived by his wife of over fifty-seven years – Doris Ritter of Munising; son – Jim Ritter of Pardeeville, WI; grandchildren - Patrick A. and Anne E. Ritter of Madison, WI; brothers and sisters-in-law – Judy (Andy) Mueller, Arthur (Kay) Schuster, Gordon Hinrichs, and Peggy Schuster; numerous nieces, nephews and cousins; and close friends and neighbors – Joe and Lee Paquette.  Art was preceded in death by his parents – Arthur G. and Arline; son – Paul E. Ritter; father and mother-in-law – Felix and Viola Schuster; and brother and sister-in-law – Raymond Schuster and Jean Hinrichs.

Visitation will be on Monday, August 15, 2016 at the Eden Lutheran Church in Munising from 10:00 a.m. until 12:00 noon.  Pastor Ann Gonyea will conduct Art’s funeral service at 12:00 noon.  Interment will be at the Maple Grove Cemetery at 2:30 p.m.  Memorials in Art’s name may be made to the Eden Lutheran Church.