Albert A. Ritz

Albert A. Ritz, 93, of Rockville, died Monday, Jan. 4, 2016, at the Howard County Medical Center in St. Paul. Services will be at 10:30 a.m. Saturday at the United Methodist Church in Loup City. The Rev. Jim Koontz will officiate. Burial will be in the Evergreen Cemetery in Loup City. Visitation will be Friday from 5 to 7 p.m. at the church. Peters Funeral Home of Loup City is in charge of the arrangements. Mr. Ritz was born on Aug. 22, 1922, at Rockville, the son of Claus Jacob and Anna (Glinsmann) Ritz. He was united in marriage to Dolores K. Rasmussen on March 20, 1949, at Harvard. She preceded him in death on Dec. 15, 1996. He is survived by one daughter and son-in-law, Marcia and Leonard Wardyn of Farwell; and two sons and one daughter-in-law, David Ritz of Tempe, AZ and Gary and Randi Ritz of Chandler, AZ. He is also survived by five grandchildren and seven great grandchildren. Albert grew up in Rockville where he received his education and was a 1940 graduate of Rockville High School. He attended Kearney State College and later an aviation mechanic school in New York. He then worked as an airplane mechanic in New York. He returned to Nebraska where he worked as a hardware salesman in Omaha and later transferred to Dutton-Lainson Company in Hastings. He and Dolores purchased the Rockville Lumber Yard and later Rockville Grain, operating both of these businesses until his retirement. After Dolores passed away, he continued to live in Rockville until May 2015, when he moved to Edgewood Vista in Grand Island. He had been residing at Brookefield Park in St. Paul for the past six months. Albert was a member of the former United Church of Christ in Rockville, having served on the church board. He was also a former village board member and village secretary and a member of the Rockville Fire Department and had served on the Rockville schoolboard. He was also a longtime member of the Nebraska Lumberman's Association. Albert enjoyed golfing, fishing, hunting, woodworking and Cornhusker football. He dearly loved to play and watch baseball and very seldom missed any of his grandchildren's school activities. In addition to his wife, Dolores, he was preceded in death by his parents; four brothers, Elmer “Jack”, Paul, Dale and Carl Ritz; one sister, Ella Nelson; and two half-brothers, Henry and Jacob Ritz. Memorials are suggested to the Rockville Fire Department.