GEORGE W. RITCHIE III, 81, passed away Saturday, May 28, 2022, in Cranston, RI. He was the loved son of the late George W. Ritchie and Mary D. (Sullivan) Ritchie of Newport, RI. George was the oldest of nine children and is survived by his three brothers and two sisters: Jerry Ritchie of Machias, ME, Peter Ritchie of St. Petersburg, FL, James Ritchie of Middletown, Mary and Robert Hafey of Richmond, RI, and Christine Ritchie of Medford, MA. He was the brother of the late Josephine Ritchie, Robert Ritchie, and Andrew Ritchie. He is also survived by his nieces and nephew, Kara Ritchie, Nathan Ritchie, Rachel Jensen, Elizabeth Ritchie, and Katherine Spaziano, and many grandnieces and grandnephews.

A native Newporter, George graduated from De La Salle Academy and then volunteered for military service in the U.S. Marine Corps Reserves. He graduated from Providence College and later received a BS cum laude in criminal justice at Roger Williams University. George joined the Providence Police Department in 1968 and was subsequently promoted to Detective, to Sergeant, to K-9 Unit Supervisor, and retired after 32 years of dedicated service. He received numerous awards and unit citations, including the 1980 Rhea Archambault award, first place, for outstanding police work. He was a long-standing member of FOP Lodge #3 and served as President of the Police Union From 1972-1975.

He enjoyed living on his boat in Warwick, taking care of his beagles Bob and Spit, visiting with friends at the Warwick Dog Park, completing the Master Gardeners course, crewing on sailboats on the intracoastal waterway and in the Newport to Bermuda Race, and a wide variety of other interests.

A memorial service will be held at a later date. The family would like to express their appreciation to the staff of Scandinavian Home Skilled Nursing Facility for their excellent care of George over the past two years.