John Martin Ritter, 67, of Hendersonville, North Carolina died Saturday, July 11, 1959 in his home in the Flat Rock Community after a period of declining health. Mr. Ritter, who also maintains a home in Miami, Fla, owns a summer home at Flat Rock.

Born January 19, 1892 in Olney, Illinois, son of John C. and Mattie (Higgins) Ritter, he attended Bradley Polytechnic Institute in Peoria, Ill, and Stout University in Wisconsin.

He was a prominent building contractor in Indianapolis, Indiana for many years. Mr. Ritter moved to Miami in 1935 and did contracting in Miami Shores. He built the Miami Shores Community Church of which he became an active worker. He was a member of the Fairview Presbyterian Church in Indianapolis. He was a 32^nd Degree Mason.

Surviving are the widow, Mrs. Mary Falconer Ritter; three sons, John Falconer Ritter and Robert Jerome Ritter, both of Miami and Henry Clay Ritter of Greenville, South Carolina; and four grandchildren.

Private graveside rites at Calvary Episcopal Church in Fletcher with burial in the church cemetery. The body will remain at Jackson Funeral Home until service time.

Published in Asheville Citizen-Times (Asheville, NC) – Sunday, July 12, 1959