Sandra Ritz

Sandra Ritz died Oct. 7, 2014, Clarkston, Wa.

Sandra Lea Collins was born Aug. 23, 1941, to Ronald and Fern (Burns) Collins in Winthrop, joining a family of three older sisters, Rosemary, Betty Jean and Patricia. Her brother, Ronald Arthur, died at three years of age of Scarlet Fever before she was born. She grew up on the family farm, riding horses over the open fields, entering local horse shows with her father, participating in 4-H, roller skating on Sunday evenings with her friends (when her dad could take them to the rink), playing basketball in junior high and taking piano and voice lessons. In grade school, she joined the newly formed band as a flutist, sung in the high school choir, competed as a solo in the Iowa state high school competition. She also helped organize a club for library volunteers and was on the staff for the school Annual. She was class president, and, with two other classmates, began a school newsletter. In 1959, she graduated as the class salutatorian. That fall she went to Marquette University in Milwaukee where she majored in history. She graduated cum laude in 1963, and was a member of several academic honorary societies: Phi Alpha Theta (history). Sigma Tau Delta (English) and Pi Gamma Mu (social science).

In her early years, her work covered a wide spectrum of publishing activities. After graduation, she worked in Milwaukee for Country Beautiful magazine, a national photo magazine. During that time, she helped put together the official publication commemorating the first Milwaukee circus parade as well as one commemorating John F. Kennedy after his assassination. In the fall of 1964, Sandra returned to Marquette on a two-year research fellowship during which she earned a master’s degree in history. After graduation, she prepared social research reports for the newly formed local branch of the Johnson administration’s Poverty Program in Milwaukee but left after a few months to join Ron Ritz, a fellow Marquette graduate from southern Illinois who shared with her a small town farming background and a zest for the unknown. Losing his military deferment after graduation, he had joined the army and been sent to the Panama Canal Zone as part of the intelligence branch. Vietnam had not yet become the maelstrom it would be, but unrest was already high, in the military world as well as the civilian. It was an exciting but unsettling time of rapid and sometimes violent change in society.

She and Ron were married in Panama City in 1968. Sandra found work in the editorial section of the Adjutant General’s Office preparing the Command Daily Bulletin. Together she and Ron explored the canal corridor, driving along jungle roads where, towering above them, ships moved slowly through the canal from one ocean to the other. When Ron’s tour of duty was completed, they returned to the States, heading for Seattle, at that time a northwest backwater to the more vigorous Portland but recommended by friends who had attended school there. They lived in Seattle for 13 years. Ron worked in insurance and real estate but his passion was buying, improving, and then selling property. Sandy worked at the University of Washington as a TV production coordinator for the Regional Medical Program. Later, she was the administrative secretary’ for the first director of the Division of Bioengineering as he put together the program for this brand new field of study. At his request, she became editor of the Bioengineering News for the U. of W. After leaving the university, she worked as grants manager in the early days of the Bob Hope Cardiovascular Center in Seattle. This job required knowledge of accounting and budgets. Becoming interested in accounting and business management, she took a Management Accounting Program from Auerswald Business University in Seattle, acquiring skills she would use the rest of her life.

In 1980, wishing to return to their small town roots, Sandy and Ron moved to Leavenworth, Washington. Today this struggling former logging and railroad town is a nationally known attraction, especially noted for its Autumn and Christmas lighting festivals which are attended by tens of thousands. Sandy and Ron were fortunate to have the opportunity to participate in this transformation. When they left Leavenworth in 2001 they had built a successful enterprise comprising of lodging, rental homes, and commercial rentals for restaurants, shops, and small business. Ron was the businessman who saw the opportunities and made them happen. Sandy became the administrative manager, keeping their train on the track. As with many others in that small community, they volunteered in various ways as the need arose.

Ron tired of the winter demands that come with living in a mountain community so when a buyer approached him in 2000, he was ready to move on to something else. The couple chose southeastern Washington where the climate was much more moderate and the fishing was superb. After short stops in Walla Walla and Clarkston, Ron and Sandy settled in Asotin, a small community on the Snake River just south of Clarkston. Ron bought a residential RV park while Sandy became involved with the activities of a family-oriented comm unity--volunteering at her church, with the library, helping with the county fair flower show. Beginning in 2010, they spent their winters in the south — as far from snow as Ron could get. Their first stop was in Texas but they settled in southern California just outside of the Palm Springs area.

Throughout her life, Sandy cared for cats and dogs — usually rescue animals. She enjoyed walking with her dogs along stony shorelines in Seattle, or in Leavenworth’s pine forests, along the Snake River in Asotin, or through the desert of southern California. She sampled a wide range of books depending upon her interests at the time just as she sampled a wide range of musical instruments, enjoying them all, mastering none. She valued friends, maintaining connections over decades. Ron and Sandy moved frequently until their mid-60s. The several homes where they lived in Seattle included a condominium overlooking Elliot Bay and a houseboat on Lake Union, a 1920s home overlooking Puget Sound and a rural cabin without central heating. Whether heading back to nature or into the center of downtown, she never lost her identify as an Iowa farmer’s daughter, helping her maintain a sense of continuity from beginning to end.

She is survived by her husband, Ron and her three sisters.

Funeral mass will be at 11:30 a.m. Wednesday, Oct. 22 at Holy Family Catholic Church, Clarkston, Wash. Burial will follow at Asotin City Cemetery. A celebration of life will follow the burial at the Quality Inn, Clarkston, for family and friends. Please sign the online guest book at www.merchantfuneralhome.com. Memorials in her name may be made to the Humane Society or the charity of ones choice.