Bruce Clark Ritter was born in Los Angeles, Calif., on July 2, 1941. He passed away on Jan. 25, 2012 at the age of 70. He was the youngest child of Henry and Lillie (Young) Ritter. Bruce had one sister and two brothers: Alice, Paul and John. He grew up in the Los Angeles area and graduated from Franklin High School in 1959.

In 1960, Bruce married his high school sweetheart Charon Bruckman in Las Vegas, Nev. and they were married for 51 years. Bruce and Charon had three daughters: Julie, Robin and Kathy.

Bruce and Charon owned their own business in Los Angeles for 11 years. In 1981, they relocated to the Kern River Valley in California and started another business, Bruce’s Typewriter. Bruce and Charon ran their business for 12 years and became a part of the Kern River Valley Community. He was a member of various clubs in the area including Kern Valley Search and Rescue, the Eagles, the Elks and the Chamber of Commerce. A few years after selling their business, they became full-time travelers in their RV and traveled extensively throughout the United States. Bruce enjoyed spelunking, hot tubbing, gambling, hunting and gold prospecting. He was an avid collector of pocket knives and antique watches and was known to frequent yard sales. Bruce owned a multitude of cars and trucks throughout his life and enjoyed restoring them. He loved a challenge and could fix almost anything. He enjoyed taking care of his family and was always available for home repair projects. He loved spending time with his family, especially his four granddaughters.  He will be dearly missed by many.

In addition to his wife Charon, Bruce is survived by daughter Julie Ritter, of Covington, Wash.; daughter and son-in-law Robin and George Wyatt, of Garrettsville, Ohio; daughter and son-in-law Kathy and Shane Downs of Maple Valley, Wash.; grandaughters Shannon, Lesley and Nicole Wyatt and Lillie Downs; and brother-in-law and sister-in-law Steve and Carolyn Chase of Texas.