RITTER, William Paul (Bill)

The Daily Courier, Prescott, Arizona Wednesday, November 7, 2007 William Paul Ritter Sr. (Bill), 87, died Nov. 2, 2007, at his home in Scottsdale, Ariz. He was born to Margaret and Winfield Ritter on Feb. 6, 1920, in El Paso, Texas. He attended the University of Texas in Austin before joining the Army Air Corps and serving in Spain during WWII. He married Mary Jane Chaney in 1941 and moved to Phoenix in 1946 where he owned and operated the Nehi Royal Crown Bottling Company and Ritter Walker Distributing Company. In 1956, he and a partner built the Safari Hotel, Scottsdale's first air-conditioned resort hotel. They moved to Newport Beach in the early '70s, belonged to the Balboa Bay Club and enjoyed many years of boating and deep-sea fishing. In 1980, they moved to Sedona, Ariz., where they supported some of the community projects such as the Sedona Cultural Park, the Sedona Medical Center and the Sedona Humane Society. Bill especially enjoyed his friends in the One Barrel of Oil Club and the Sedona 30 Club. After the death of his wife, Jane, he met and married Margery Scudder Burke and resided in Scottsdale and Big Fork, Mont. He loved cars, planes and boats and was the oldest person to complete the Bondurant Race Car Driving School. He is survived by his wife Margery; his son William P. Ritter; daughters, Patricia Tait (Tom, Sr.), Jane Ritter and Mary Katherine Ritter; stepchildren, Suzanne Scudder and Ambrose E. Scudder II; grandchildren, Robert Ritter, Bonnie Ritter, Tom Tait, Jr., (Faye), William Tait (Jill), and Bryan Ritter; eleven great-grandchildren, one great-great-grandchild and several nieces and nephews. A private family service will be in Sedona, Arizona. Information provided by survivors.