Jeanne M. Ritter

On Monday, October 28, 2019, Jeanne M. Ritter passed away at the age of 99.

Jeanne Marie Cloud was born on April 12, 1920 in St. Joseph Missouri, to Arthur Beryl and Marie (Spillman) Cloud. She grew up in Salina Kansas, and graduated from Kansas Wesleyan University in 1941. She married Ralph J. Chubbuck of Rice, Kansas, on May 31 that same year.

Ralph chose Conscientious Objector status when he was drafted, and after basic training, he and Jeanne both served in Norwich State Hospital in Norwich, Connecticut throughout the war. Their time working there was formative for both and they shared many stories from that time throughout their lives.

After the war ended, they moved to Southern California. Jeanne worked in a doctor’s office there, and became a full time homemaker and mother when her first child was born. They moved back to Kansas when their parents became ill, and settled in rural Cloud County. They had three children, Linda, Paul and Julie.

There Jeanne established herself in the community becoming at various times a Sunday School teacher, a 4-H leader (sewing, knitting, cooking and more), a skilled needlework, weaving, and spinning artist as well as a wonderful cook for her growing family. After her children left home, she became an expert genealogist and researcher for other seekers. Together they traveled to many genealogy libraries and cemeteries to collect and catalogue information.

Ralph passed in 1998. In the summer of 2000, Jeanne married Edgar E. Ritter, who had been a college sweetheart. Together they spent winters in California and summers in Kansas, until he passed in 2004.

She moved to Lee’s Summit, Missouri in November of 2006 to be near her daughters. She made many friends and participated in lively conversations in her retirement community during the 13 years she lived at John Knox Village. Jeanne enjoyed reading, keeping up with the political scene, discussing the latest documentary on PBS, and playing Scrabble with her neighbors.

Jeanne was preceded in death by her parents, her brother Arthur, and her spouses. She is survived by her three children, Linda J. Chubbuck, Paul Chubbuck and Julie (Chubbuck) Hamel, five grandchildren and three great grandchildren, as well as beloved sons-in-law, nieces, nephews and friends.

A Celebration of Life will be held on Saturday, November 16 at John Knox Village Chapel at 4 pm (400 NW Murray Road, Lee’s Summit, MO). A memorial reception will be held in Concordia, Kansas on Friday, Dec, 6 from 5-7pm at the Holiday Inn Express Meeting Room, 2175 Lincoln St. US 81. Inurnment will be at the Rice Cemetery in Cloud County.

Memorials may be made to
Cloud County Genealogical Society
PO Box 202
Concordia, KS 66901
or to
Village Hospice,
1001 NW Chipman Road, Suite 237,
Lee’s Summit, MO 64081

A Celebration of Life will be held on Saturday, November 16 at John Knox Village Chapel at 4 pm (400 NW Murray Road, Lee’s Summit, MO). A memorial reception will be held in Concordia, Kansas on Friday, Dec, 6 from 5-7pm at the Holiday Inn Express Meeting Room, 2175 Lincoln St. US 81. Inurnment will be at the Rice Cemetery in Cloud County.