Mary Frances Brown Ritchie, 93, passed away Friday morning at her home after a long and happy life.
She was born on Christmas Eve in 1932 to the late Mary Camille Sifford and Luther Clarence Brown in Danville, VA. She graduated from Lenior Rhyne University in Hickory, NC in 1955 and began a teaching career that lasted over 30 years. She was a natural teacher and loved each and every student. She taught in multiple primary schools in North Carolina, Florida, and South Carolina giving special attention to those who had a harder time learning. She often laughed at herself saying after so much time in school, you’d think she’d be able to advance beyond the 4th grade.
She was married for 64 years to the love of her life, Rev. Carl L Ritchie who passed in 2019. She shared his deep passion for the Lord. She encouraged his ministry and was an integral part of the congregation in every church he pastored often teaching Sunday school and singing in the choir.
Surviving daughters are Mary Woods (Lennis) of Goose Creek, Deborah Fox (Sheldon) of Raleigh, NC and Martha Mountain, her youngest daughter and roommate in Summerville for the past 10 years. Torstein Bremset of Norway, an exchange student that the Ritchies hosted in 1976, is also part of the family. Frances’s legacy includes 6 grandchildren (Erin Cunningham (David), Josh Gilreath (Lydia), Bryan Fox (Angela), Shaun Mountain (April), Matthew Fox (Morgan), and Chelsea Riedmayer (Cory)) and 11 great-grandchildren (Sean, Andrew, JB, Payton, JR, Lillian, Michael, Holston, Cameron, Weezy, and Parker). The family has been enriched by her love, loyalty, deep faith and devotion to Jesus Christ. She had so much joy in spending time with them.
In addition to her parents and husband, Frances is preceded in death by her son, Luther Hubert Ritchie and her sister, Sue Brown Pickett. What a great reunion they are all having in heaven.
A Witness to the Resurrection will be held at St Luke’s Lutheran Church, 206 Central Avenue, Summerville SC 29483 at 1pm Wednesday, February 11th and will be live streamed on the Church’s website or Facebook.
In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to St Luke’s Lutheran Church.
