Malvin A. (Bill) Ritchie, Jr., 88, of Windsor passed away at 2:40 p.m. Thursday (May 14, 2009) at his residence.
Funeral services will be held at 11:00 a.m. Monday in the Lovins-Lockart Funeral Home, Windsor with Meg Gorecki officiating. Visitation will be from 5:00 to 8:00 p.m. Sunday with Masonic rites at 8:00 p.m. Burial will be in the Windsor Cemetery with military rites. Memorials may be made to the Lutheran Church of the Holy Trinity, PO Box 595, Mt. Pleasant, NC, 28124 or the American Cancer Society.
He was born February 19, 1921 in Mt. Pleasant, NC, the son of Malvin A. and Mittie Elizabeth (Hahn) Ritchie, Sr. He was always called Bill because his maternal grandfather thought he should have been his namesake. Bill was baptized August 7, 1921 in Mt. Pleasant.
He graduated from Mt. Pleasant High School in 1938 and after graduation, he attended Seminary College for 2 years. Prior to military service, he worked at the U.S. Post Office in Washington D.C. After receiving his draft notice from the U.S. Army he immediately enlisted in the U.S. Navy. He served during WW II on the USS Cherokee ATF 66 from October 1942 to November 1945 in the Atlantic Fleet. He married Marjorie R. Slater, August 14, 1944 in Norfolk, VA. Upon his discharge form the Navy, he came to Windsor and was an owner of the Windsor Supply Company from 1946 to 1981.
Bill was a member of the Mt. Pleasant Lutheran Church of the Holy Trinity, 62 year member of the Windsor Masonic Lodge, serving as worshipful master in 1956, life member of the VFW in Shelbyville, Windsor American Legion, Eagles and Moose Lodges in Mattoon. He loved hunting, fishing, bowling, cards and Bill enjoyed people.
Surviving are his wife Marjorie, daughters, Daphne Ritchie and friend Gene Differding of Batavia and Debra Gandy and husband Ted of Decatur and many nieces and nephews.
He was preceded in death by his parents, four sisters and one brother.
