Obituary of Arthur Carl Ritchie

Arthur passed away after a brief illness on Wednesday, August 17, 2016. He was born on the farm, March 26, 1924 and moved with his family to Saskatoon in 1936. Arthur attended Pleasant Hill School and Westmount School. He went to Saskatoon Technical Collegiate until his 18th birthday, the very day he signed up with the RCAF. He was stationed at St. Thomas in Ontario for training, then was sent to Leeds in Yorkshire, England where he stayed until the end of the war. He met his wife Betty Whitehead in Leeds and after the war she came to Canada where they married in Saskatoon. Since grade school, Arthur always had a passion and fascination for electricity and loved building crystal sets (basic radio). His first job was with Intercontinental Packers and he was instrumental putting in the complex wiring. He left Intercon for a job with Monsanto in Ontario for five years. Then Intercon lured him back to Saskatoon. Again he was responsible for the upgrades and rewiring of the larger expansion of Intercon. He was sent on a Fire Chief course in Boston. His responsibility became overseeing all electrical maintenance and the one to contact before any fire intervention so that no valuable or complicated wiring was damaged. Arthur was a caring, conscientious, loving and dedicated man with a passion for life long learning. He enjoyed hockey (played with Gordie Howe), football and skating. He was predeceased by his first wife Betty and his parents Ted and Mary Hrytsak, brothers Andrew and Rudy and his sister Slawka Senkus. Survived by his brother Peter Hrytsak and sister Francis (George) Sherban and many nieces, nephews and cousins. Also survived by his partner Kathryn Hurd and her family, Patricia, Barry (Wendy), Cam (Sherry), Cheryl (Jack) and Lorene (Craig). Arthur will be sadly missed by all. The family would like to thank Rudah and the Quality Care Home staff. The Doctors and Nurses at St. Paul’s Hospital and Dr. Howlett for their care and support.