Louise Ritchey passed away early on the morning of August 16, 2020. She suffered from Alzheimer's disease for several years and went peacefully in her sleep cared for by the caring and attentive staff at Zarrow Pointe and Miller Hospice.
A daughter of Montana, Louise Lydia Black was born to Bill and Ella Black in Standard of Ohio Camp of Montana on April 10, 1926 and grew up in the shadow of the Sweetgrass Hills in Oilmont. She lived through the Great Depression in a four-room house with eleven people. One of her fondest memories was celebrating VJ-Day for three days straight in 1945. She truly was a member of the Greatest Generation.
She met Bob Ritchey (her dance partner for life) in Shelby, Montana in 1950 and they were married there on Groundhog Day, 1951. As the Ritchey family grew they moved with the burgeoning oil business from Shelby, to Casper, Wyoming, to Denver, Houston and finally Tulsa in 1970.
Louise was known as the "best friend ever" of many, and a supportive and loving mother, grandmother, aunt, and world-class seamstress, pie, and brownie baker. Her prowess on the links at Southern Hills Country Club were known to many and her putting skills are still mentioned in hushed tones, as were the dancing skills of Bob and Louise Ritchey.
She was preceded in death by her husband of 55 years, Robert Lee Ritchey, in 2006. She is survived by son, Lee Ritchey of New York City, daughters Luan Denman of Lincoln, Nebraska, and Martina Jelley, MD of Tulsa, grandchildren Hannah, Elisa, and Ben Jelley, and son-in-law David Jelley, MD. Donations can be made in lieu of flowers to the Alzheimer's Association of Tulsa. A memorial service will be held at a later time.