Tuesday, April 16, 2013
4/16
Dear Family and Friends,
John's blood pressure medication was discontinued this morning and he died peacefully at 3:30 this afternoon when his heart stopped beating. He died as he lived - brave, strong, unafraid, acting in love and concern for others. Lynn, Seth, Michael and Zacchary were at his side.
John's obituary will be posted at www.mcall.com . Please say a prayer to speed him on his way to peace and joy; and, do something today to honor his life and in remembrance of how he enriched all of us.
Please continue to follow the blog. As soon as we can, we will post some excerpts from John's journal. Then this blog will have something written in John's voice about life and how to live it even in the face of an insurmountable illness. Michael has fixed the blog if you would like to leave a message of your own.
His Loving Family
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You are all in my heart.
ReplyDeleteDavid said he is now free to smoke his cigar.Although we have only known him briefly, his ready smile and laughter will be missed by us and others. Our thoughts and prayers will be with you. We will give the girls extra hugs from Juan-John.
ReplyDeleteSo many thoughts are in my heart. I know we will have time to gather and exchange them together. This post is to celebrate the life of one of the dearest friends I have ever had. Our laughter may be exchanged for tears today, but someday we will rock Heaven with thunderous laughter. Mirth will replace sadness and the Bourbon and Scotch will flow like water. Keep a chair open and a glass chilled for me, dear friend, as I shall keep them here. Linda and the boys are all praying for you as are my students here at Central Catholic. So many wrote beautiful words of comfort and support for me and your family on the back of the test I gave today. That is what makes this so special. I shall not grieve alone, but with these wonderful children who have touched my heart this day. They will give me the strength to face each dawn without you. I shall see your face in the setting sun and hear your laughter and taunting in each gentle breeze. May God take notice of you, and be wary of your wit. Come to me in my dreams, dear friend, that I may see your face and hear your voice. May flights of angels speed you to your rest. You have touched the lives of thousands, but none so dearly as mine
ReplyDeleteMy heart is with you all!
ReplyDeleteIn celebration of John's life, as soon as I get home, Ron and I are going to sip a fine bourbon in the garden and remember!
Dear Lynn,
ReplyDeletePlease accept my deepest condolences on the loss of your beloved, brave, funny, strong and all around incredible John.
May he rest in eternal peace knowing that his family, friends, and students all cared about him and adored him to no end.
I will most certainly say many prayers for him as I will for your entire family.
I consider myself lucky to have had the opportunity to know him through you.
Fondly,
Gloria
To the family and friends of John:
ReplyDeleteHow lucky we all were to be in John's orbit. John is one of only a handful of people who I could say was always and completely honest. Working with John was like a master class in loyalty, dedication, and leadership. John's willingness and ability to let his students and colleagues shine was selfless and amazing. His voice joins one of only a few in my head that act as my conscience, and it is there -- along with some fond memories of phone conversations so long-winded that I literally walked away from the phone, served dinner to my children, and returned to find him still talking -- that he will live for me. Thank you, Lynn, for sharing him with us. --- Alice Stinebaugh
How sad it is that we lost yet another person to cancer. I enjoyed spending time with John; he was insightful and said what was on his mind. The time that we worked together will be with me forever. Please know that you are in my thoughts. Please let me know if there is anything that I can you for you.
ReplyDeleteMichael Messerschmidt
My condolences to John's family and friends, and to all whose lives he touched. I am sad to hear of his passing.
ReplyDeleteJohn has touched so many lives, and as I mourn his passing, I am so grateful for the time he was my dear friend. Love and prayers for Lynn, Seth, Michael, and Zacc.
ReplyDeleteCharlene Heidrich-Grier
Rest in Peace to a beloved man who helped mold me as a child and always was there for a fun debate about politics as I grew up. I will always remember your wit, kind words and wise cracks about us Sicilian republicans. You will forever be missed and you touched so many lives at Parkland and beyond. The world has lost a fabulous teacher, loving father and great husband.
ReplyDeleteThank you for everything Mr. Ritter. I love you.
A toast of bourbon for you tonight!
Dearest Lynn, Seth, Michael and Zacchary, We are so deeply saddened to know we will not see or hear John on our back deck ever again. His laughter and quickest wit always brought out the very best in Johnny, me and all three of our little "Nippers." He consistently reminded me to stop and smell the roses and how short life really is. Johnny is aching over the loss of his very best friend. For the nearly 30 years marriage, I have never seen Johnny filled with the authentic joy that only John inspired in him. Their exchanges were like two-part harmony in words or a fun game of ping pong - each playing and building off each other. It was almost as if one inhaled what the other exhaled in a trace-like cadence of love and respect. It was quite remarkable and totally and memorable. I am so grateful and blessed to have known and loved John. He has left a permanent imprint on our hearts, souls and memories. We will ALWAYS be only a few miles away if you ever need any thing, any time, any where, Lynn. Please NEVER hesitate to reach out. We love you, Linda and the Little Nippers (Brendyn, 22, John Byron, 20, and Colyn (13)
ReplyDeleteMy condolences to John 's family and all the friends I know are grieving. At dome point I'll drink some expensive whiskey and dump a little down the drain for him.
ReplyDeleteJohn Fegley
John, I loved our faculty room conversations and will always remember you with great fondness. I was so lucky to have taught in the Parkland School District during the entire 30 years you were there! You truly cared so much about your colleagues and students, and showed that with your actions! I will miss you.
ReplyDeleteDiane Cortazzo
(Frau)
To the life of my dearest friend,
ReplyDeleteAs I think back to all the wonderful memories I have shared with John and his family, I take comfort in knowing that all the sadness and grief I feel at this moment is so incredibly overshadowed by the fact that in life he gave the truest meaning to the word-friendship. If there were two friends more opposite in how we looked at life, I envy them. We could argue over the hue of the sky, the degree of humidity, the size of a groundhog at 100 yards, the accuracy of our own shooting abilities, the state of the union, the idiosyncrasies of our two political parties, and the efficacy of owning the latest electronic gear. Gas vs diesel engine statistics came daily. If the cloud cover was too much or too little, could take hours to debate. But through all of these gentle, though sometimes heated exchanges, an undercurrent of love and respect for one another was always present. I am sure more often than not, we silently agreed with each other, but choose to take the opposite opinion for the sheer sake of debate. His wonderful and enduring, “For a Lehigh graduate, how can you be so damn dumb?” will echo in my ears for all my life until we meet again. “Sadie” will miss those moments. How she tries to make me see her point of view. Maybe I should tell her that I often really did agree, just disagreed to get her going. We two were a mess for her. Sorry Lynn.
Early on John would tell me how he had to drive one of the boys to a soccer practice or a match somewhere over God’s half acre. He was going to Virginia, Ohio, or anyplace with a name. I would say to him he was crazy driving all over the place. Of course this was coming from a married man with no children, or then with those in diapers. He would just look at me over his glasses and say, “Just wait, Johnny, just wait.” I would soon know what he meant by those two little words. Now I say to him, ”Just wait, Johnny, just wait.” As usual, he has the last laugh. Just wish I could argue with him about all this.
Of course I could regale all of you with thousands of stories and memories formed over the past 35 years. We all have those among us now. But what touches me so much is the support I received from my family. Brendyn texted me numerous times throughout the day to say he was thinking of you and the many things he learned in your class and his many conversations at our house. I blame you Ritter for his conversion to the Dark Side (Democrat). He shall miss your visits to the deck and our constant good natured bantering. I told “Nipper”(as John called our youngest son, Colyn) you were with God when he got off the bus. He took the news very hard. Just the day before he came home from school and showed me a paper for his service hours where he had written-Yard work for Mr. and Mrs. Ritter as his first priority. He cried for hours. As I opened the door to the house, I saw Colyn hugging JB in our kitchen. JB had driven home from college to be with us and share in our sorrow. He loved you so. You two really got close last summer. Tears stained his T-shirt, though he tried to act JBish. We all cried and laughed over stories and times spent with you and in the Poconos. Linda got home and was greeted by all of us. She will miss the two of us as we debated the state of anything on the deck, even when it snowed, or throughout the house. You with a bourbon, I with my Scotch. She will be my greatest source of comfort through all of this. We are so blessed to have had you in all our lives. Know we will always be there for Lynn and the boys. You often said how you would be there if anything ever happened to me, and I for you. Consider it done. Linda, Brendyn, JohnByron, Colyn, and I will hold you close to our hearts till we all meet again.
Love you forever,
Johnny
Although I’m five and half years older than John, in many ways he was my older brother – bigger, stronger, tougher, a much better student than I. He modeled for me his very individual way of honesty, loyalty, courage and loving. He forgave me for much, and seemed to view some of my worst traits as endearing idiosyncrasies. He was the very best brother a guy could have. I’m almost unable to bear the thought of John’s physical absence – seeing and touching him, hearing his voice on the phone and in my voice mail. But I know now that he has not and will not ever leave me. I am even now hearing his comments on the day’s events, investment advice, and loving encouragement. Go with God my brother! I know that He has suffered with you through all your trials, that He greatly appreciates you and welcomes you as His own to the love and peace you so deserve.
ReplyDeleteBrother Bob