John Allen Ritter passed peacefully the morning of July 15th, 2024 at the age of 81.

The eldest of the Ritter family, John was born January 22nd, 1943 to Doris and John Ritter, Sr. of LaPrairie who continued growing their family with another 8 children.

John graduated from Greenway High School in 1961 and attended Dunwoody Institute in Minneapolis before enlisting in the United States Marine Corp with 6 of his buddies. He proudly served our country for 4 years stationed out of Camp Pendleton and San Diego, California. He spent 15 months on assignment in Okinawa, Japan maintaining military vehicles before returning home.

After beginning his career stateside with Thiele Engineering in 1966, John followed his dad's footsteps to Blandin Paper Company as a machinist and retired 32 years later. John was a very talented and hardworking man donning many different hats and skillsets but his cowboy hat was always worn with pride. He was a lifetime farmer, horse trainer, cow breeder, sawmill specialist, animal enthusiast, hunter, handy man, devoted rodeo fan and a bull rider himself in his younger years.

John is preceded in death by his beloved sons, Marty and Scotty Ritter, parents John and Doris, brothers David, Dan, Tom, and Joe Ritter.

John is survived by his darlin' Barb Beckers; dog, Turbo; siblings, Paul (Patty), Jeannette Ritter (Brian), Patrick (Ellen) and Eva Moreno (Pedro); sisters in law, Rae Lynn Stephens, and Mary Ritter; and numerous nieces and nephews including Jason, Jimmy, Dorie, Ronald, Mark, Danny, David, Robb, Michael, Julie, Jeanna, Jolynn, Sara, Jon, BJ, Molly, Megan, Joe Jerry, Franchesca, Jeremy, and Jeffrey. He was a great uncle to 40 nieces and nephews and a great-great uncle to 7.

John served as a member of the Independent Union of Papermill Workers as well as the Fraternal Order of the Eagles. He will be remembered as a loving and helpful family man with many cherished friendships, a drink in hand with a rodeo on tv and always a rowdy story to share!

The family invites you to toast to everyone's friend, John during a celebration of life at the Eagles Club in Grand Rapids on Friday August 2nd from 1-3pm.