Nacogdoches – Services for Dora Pauline Ritterskamp, better known as "Polly" Ritterskamp, are set for 10:30 a.m. Friday, Aug. 8, 2014, at the First United Methodist Church, located at 201 E. Hospital St., Nacogdoches, with Rev. Jeff McDonald officiating. A private committal service is being held at Oak Grove Cemetery. Polly passed away Monday, July 21, 2014, in Nacogdoches at the age of 91. She was born Aug. 14, 1922, in Appleby, Nacogdoches County, to parents Cloyd and Jessie Samuels Jefferies. During an exciting period after World War II, Polly worked closely with her husband, Ben, who was manager of the Nacogdoches Chamber of Commerce as the city continued its post war growth. During this time, she worked with The Daily Sentinel as a feature writer and a reporter. Her experience with The Daily Sentinel served her continually as she eventually worked at two Bryan newspapers, as a correspondent for the Houston Post, and the Richardson Daily News. While living in Cuero, Texas, she worked 13 years as the manager of the Chamber of Commerce. Polly also wrote a weekly column for the Cuero Record.
After moving back to Nacogdoches in recent years, Polly was a columnist for The Daily Sentinel until her health interfered a few short weeks ago. Writing seemed a natural for Polly, as her mother was a popular "country" correspondent for many years to The Redland Herald. Polly had been an active member of the United Methodist Church, Rotary and Pilot Clubs, Nacogdoches Art League, and Nacogdoches High School Alumni Association.
She enjoyed traveling, decorative painting and quilting. Polly was an active volunteer with Nacogdoches Convention & Visitors Bureau. She was preceded in death by her husband, Ben Ritterskamp, as well as her parents, Cloyd and Jessie Jefferies.
Her survivors include her children, Susie Beall and husband, John, of Houston, Judy Crain and husband, Rob, of Norman, Oklahoma, and John Ritterskamp and wife, Cheryl, of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma; grandchildren, Tracy and Brent Fergurson of Houston, Tim and Joanna Beall of Vail, Colorado, Kelly Stout of Norman, Josh Crain of Norman, Nicole and Jarrod VanZant of Edmond, Oklahoma, and Hunter Ritterskamp of Oklahoma City; and great-grandchildren, Jessica, Ryan, and Nicholas Fergurson, Taylor Beall, Dylan, Jake, and Aja Stout, and Grace and Wyatt VanZant. Memorials may be made to Nacogdoches High School Alumni Association or American Heart Association
Online memories and condolences may be offered at www.CasonMonk-Metcalf.com.
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