Arlene Elizabeth Ritchie

She was born in Falmouth, ME, on April 19, 1927, daughter of the late Elizabeth Poole (Cleaves) and Melville Morse Gribbin. She was predeceased by her husband of 50 years, David Algin Ritchie and is survived by their 3 daughters, Dianne (Steve) Spelter, Brenda (Don) Woloszyn, and Heidi (Melissa Butler) Hellstrom. She is also survived by her grandchildren, Katrina, Beth, Steven (Diana), Julia, Stephanie, Ali Spelter, Andrew, Lee, Dan Stadden, and Ashley and Eric Hellstrom. Her great grandchildren are Ezekiel, Cayden and Zoe.

She had fond memories of growing up with her sister, Shirley, in the area of Falmouth known as Pleasant Hill (also known as Smelt Hill) where her father ran a store on the family property which sold milk, bread and candy. She loved to play ball, hopscotch and was a huge Shirley Temple fan.

Arlene Graduated from Falmouth High School in 1945 where she enjoyed playing violin in the orchestra. After graduation Arlene got a job at Honblower & Weeks. They were a company that was tied to Wall Street, and she ran the bookkeeping machine. After 4 years she went to work for Canal Bank then 9 years later went to work for King Cole potato chip company.

While she was growing up, a new family moved in across the street. David was a few years younger than she was and she thought of him as “a snotty nosed kid wearing knickers”. He used to visit her home with the neighborhood kids, and they would sit around and listen to her father tell ghost stories. As they grew up, they began dating then David went into the Marines for 2 years. Upon his return they were engaged then married on July 31, 1954. Eventually her 3 daughters were born, and she poured herself into raising her family. She was at every band/orchestra concert, chorus performance and horse show. She taught her girls to love animals. There were cats, dogs, hamsters, rabbits, guinea pigs, birds, turtles and horses. In her later years, when she lived with her daughter, Heidi, she loved helping to raise baby goats.

After all her daughters were grown and gone, she enjoyed having different grandchildren take turns living with her. She was a true servant to her family. Although she lost most of her vision to macular degeneration, she loved to listen to BBC radio and was always up to date with current events.

She is greatly missed by her family and many friends. A Celebration of Life will be held at First Baptist Church in Portland, ME on July 23rd at 2:00.

In lieu of flowers please consider making a donation to your local food pantry or an animal rescue.