Henry Ritz

FUNERAL NOTICE
Peterson Brothers Funeral Home
700 Becker Ave. SW
Willmar, Minnesota 56201
320-235-1651 Fax 320-235-1685
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Henry Ritz
Oct. 11, 1919 Oct. 11, 2014

Henry "Hank" Ritz, age 95, of Willmar, died Saturday evening, Oct. 11, at Bethesda Heritage Center in Willmar.

Memorial service will be held at 11AM Thursday, October 16, at First Presbyterian Church in Willmar. Memorials are preferred to Rice Hospice in Willmar. Interment will be in the Cloverleaf Memorial Park Cemetery in Willmar. Military Honors will be provided by the Austin F. Hanscom American Legion Post 167 of Willmar. Visitation will be held from 5-7 PM Wednesday at Peterson Brothers Funeral Home in Willmar and one hour prior to the service at the church. (www.petersonbrothers.com)

Henry "Hank" Ritz was born on October 11, 1919, on the family farm in Whitefield Township, Kandiyohi County, Minnesota the son of Gertrude (Kuil) and Eppo Ritz. He grew up on the family farm and received his education at the Svea school. On September 12, 1939, he was married to Olive "Toots" Viola Oveson in Willmar. He worked in Willmar for a few years before being drafted into the Navy in 1945 and served during WW II. After the war he was employed at Amundson Evans Chevrolet in Willmar for several years and farmed near Svea for 9 years. They moved to Willmar where Hank worked as a mechanic for Duininck's on many projects including the missile silos in North Dakota and the North Shore Hwy at Grand Portage. Hank and Toots had two children and she died on January 10, 1967. On February 2, 1968, he was married to Patricia Marie (Cain) Hoffman and they had one son. Hank worked for Willmar Ready Mix for 20 years before retiring. He wasn't good at retirement, so he served as custodian at the First Presbyterian Church in Willmar until the age of 80. He lived a full life, raising two families, serving his community, enjoying family and fiends. He loved to dance, especially the old time polkas. He was a member of First Presbyterian Church, the Willmar Eagles, VFW, American Legion and the Senior Citizens.. He was much loved and will be sadly missed.

He is survived by his wife, Pat of Willmar, daughter, Gertrude Blue of Rosholt, SD, two sons; David (and Nancy) Ritz of Willmar and Daniel (and Desiree) Ritz of Chandler, AZ, two stepsons; David Hoffman of Chandler, AZ and Ronald Hoffman of Fridley and one stepdaughter, LaVae Hoffman of Charlottesville, Virginia. Also surviving are eight grandchildren, ten great grandchildren and four great great grandchildren, besides other relatives and friends.

Hank was preceded in death by his parents, 1st wife, Toots in 1967, eight sisters; Tena Ritz, Minnie (and George) Ruter, Jennie (and Ben) Hoffman, Annie (and Louie) Vetruba, Grace (and Harvey) Gabriel, Ella (and Stanford) Norling, Gertrude (and Glen) Holmquist and Flora (and Myrl) Welch and one brother, Hiko Ritz, Sr..

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