This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Author: marcenath Surnames: Simpson, Ritter, Fox Classification: obituary Message Board URL: http://boards.rootsweb.com/localities.northam.usa.states.newmexico.counties.donaana/4811/mb.ashx Message Board Post: Las Cruces Sun News 7 Oct 2010 MESILLA - Billie Ruth Ritter Simpson, whose community service and sense of style, history and hospitality left a mark from the Cloudcroft Lodge, which she once owned, to New Mexico State University and the racetracks of Ruidoso and Sunland Park, died Wednesday in her Mesilla Park home. She was 95. "It is truly the loss of a grand lady," said her son C.W. "Buddy" Ritter, owner of the Double Eagle restaurant in Mesilla, who remembered that his mother often offered tips on the landmark restaurant's decor. "Billie Ruth has truly been a grand dame of Las Cruces, and a consummate hostess. Her many friends are grateful to have known and loved her, often joking that Billie would go to heaven while planning a party," her longtime friend Margaret Campbell said. Artist Sallie Ritter said her mother remained active in the community and her joie de vivre was still fully evident on a 2009 family cruise around the world. "She planned a Pirates of the Baltic party on the cruise and got us all patches and costumes. Mom was queen of the pirates. Her outfit included a black feather boa and diamonds and when she came in, everybody applauded," said Ritter, who added that her mom "was a fantastic business woman. Nothing was ever just handed to us. When we kids wanted anything, we had to make a detailed business plan. I made one when I wanted to study art in Scotland." Ritter Simpson was born in Joplin, Mo,. on Dec. 3, 1914, the only child of Carter and Estella Mae "Becky" Fox. The family moved to El Paso when she was 3. She graduated from El Paso High School and received her teaching certificate from the Texas College of Mines, now the University of Texas-El Paso. In 1933, she married John Barnes Ritter, founder of the J. B. Ritter Distributing Co. which marketed Texaco products here. The couple honeymooned at the Amador Hotel in Las Cruces. The pueblo-style home they built in Mesilla Park was recognized as a "building of historical significance for adhering to local architecture" by the Do-a Ana Historical Society. In 1953, they purchased the historic Cloudcroft Lodge in Cloudcroft, N.M., and she supervised lodge renovations and the extension to 18 holes of the golf course now known as one of the six highest-elevation golf courses in the world. The couple, both avid golfers, also helped found the Las Cruces Country Club and Ritter Simpson served as president of the Southwest Women's Golf Association and the Las Cruces Country Club Women's Golf Association. She was also a founding member of the Ruidoso Jockey Club, a partner in Temulac Stables and the owner of racehorse Winsham Lad, the speed record holder at Sunland Park Racetrack. John Ritter's 1954 death in a traffic crash left her a 39-year-old widow with four children. In 1957, she married W. K. "Ajax" Simpson, a Marfa, Texas, rancher and banker. They were enthusiastic world travelers until his death in 1997. As benefactor to NMSU, she established a graduate fellowship in business administration and was a member of the President's Associates, the University Ambassadors and Aggie Boosters. She actively oversaw the Charles R. and Dorothy S. Carter Chair in Business Administration, established at UTEP in memory of her father. She was a board member of Planned Parenthood, served as a volunteer candy striper at Memorial General Hospital and was president of the Las Cruces Garden Club. For 75 years, she was a member of St. James Episcopal Church, which was founded by John Ritter's great-grandfather, Dr. Edwin Burt, a surgeon in Mesilla. Her children revealed that she was also an accomplished ballet dancer, who once contemplated a professional dancing career. She was preceded in death by her first husband of 21 years, John B. Ritter, by her husband of 41 years, W. K. Ajax Simpson, by her son, John C. Ritter, and by her granddaughter, Peggy Ritter. She is survived by her son Charles W. "Buddy" Ritter and his wife, Margaret, of Mesilla Park; daughter Sallie Ritter Jacobs and her husband, Dr. Kent F. Jacobs, of Las Cruces; daughter Terri Ritter Finley and husband Dan, of Boulder, Colo.; and daughter-in-law Nancy Ritter Galter of Dallas, Texas; eight grandchildren; seven great-grandchildren; and four great-great-grandchildren. Funeral services will be at 4 p.m. Friday at St. James Episcopal Church in Mesilla Park. The family requests memorials be made to the Billie Ruth Simpson Memorial Fund at St. James Episcopal Church, P.O. Box 2427, Mesilla Park, NM, 88047. Important Note: The author of this message may not be subscribed to this list. If you would like to reply to them, please click on the Message Board URL link above and respond on the board.