Monday, April 3, 2006 | 9:14 a.m.
Doug Ritchie was a British Army major in India and Pakistan in the late 1940s during the turmoil that resulted in independence for the two countries.
While shocked by the violence he witnessed between Hindus from India and Pakistani Muslims, Ritchie calmly maintained control.
That was a trait that not only helped him in the 1st Punjab Regiment, but throughout his life. His composed, easygoing manner encouraged unity, his family said.
Douglas Harold Ritchie, the Sun's founding classified ad manager, died Saturday at French Hospital in San Luis Obispo, Calif. He was 86 and a resident of Avila Beach, Calif.
The cause, his family said, was an aneurism that was discovered 3 1/2 years ago during heart surgery but, at Ritchie's request, was not operated on.
Services for the Las Vegas resident of 40 years will be 2 p.m. today at Palm Mortuary-Downtown. Burial will follow at Woodlawn Cemetery, where his parents and two brothers, Teddy and Les Ritchie, are buried. Les Ritchie was the Sun's longtime travel editor who died in 1986 at age 67.
Doug Ritchie was Sun publisher Barbara Greenspun's older brother.
Both Ritchie and Greenspun were with the Sun when the first issue was published by the late Hank Greenspun, Barbara's husband, in 1950.
In addition to serving as classified ad manager, Ritchie became head of Sun promotions in the 1970s and head of public relations in the 1980s.
"My most vivid memories of my Uncle Doug are intertwined with the newspaper and our family because, in the early days, this was very much a family newspaper in that the entire family, it seemed, help make it happen," Sun Editor and President Brian Greenspun said.
"Doug was one of the earliest volunteers for the effort and, for as long as he lived, he continued to help and advise us."
Brenda Ritchie said her husband and Barbara Greenspun talked on a weekly basis about the paper.
"He always asked her about the latest happenings at the Sun," Brenda said. "Even though my husband was not an owner of the paper, he maintained a great interest in what was going on there."
Brenda Ritchie, who met longtime bachelor Doug in 1969 and married him in 1971, said her husband was deeply influenced by what he saw while serving in Jhelum, an area in the Punjab region of Pakistan. He led his men in a calm manner amid much turmoil.
"More than anything, he was mildmannered and a good listener - he created harmony," Brenda said. The couple would have celebrated their 35th wedding anniversary on April 10.
Born Feb. 20, 1920, in Portsmouth, England, Ritchie was the second eldest child of film distributor Joseph M. Ritchie and his wife, Jessica. Educated in Dublin, Iireland, Ritchie joined the British Army out of high school in the late 1930s.
During World War II, Ritchie served as a British officer and saw action on D-Day at Normandy. He later served with troops that marched into Germany and liberated prisoner of war camps. After the war he was transferred to India.
Leaving the military in 1950 after 11 years, Ritchie came to las Vegas. His brother-in-law Hank had purchased the Las Vegas Free press from a group of International Typographers Union members who started the newspaper after being locked out by the Review- Journal over a wage dispute.
Hank Greenspun published his first issue of the Free Press on June 21, 1950, and 10 days later renamed the paper the Sun.
It was in those early years that Brian Greenspun got to know his uncle as a caring, family man.
"When my parents weren't at home to take care of us, it was always Doug or his brother Les making sure that we were cared for," Greenspun said. "Over the years I saw him put in hundreds of hours on the golf course, thousands of hours managing the Sun classified ad department and countless years caring for his family in the most kind and loving way."
Ritchie became an American citizen in the mid-1960s.
He served full-time with the Sun until 1990, the year the paper entered into a joint operating agreement with the Review-Journal, which then took over the selling of classified ads for both papers.
That year, Ritchie and his family moved to California, and he maintained the title of assistant to the publisher until his death.
In addition to his wife and sister, ritchie is survived by two daughters, Joey Alexis Brookhart of Monterey, Calif., and Siobhan Ritchie of San Luis Obispo; and one grandson, Rory Brookhart of Monterey.
Serving as pallbearers at today's funeral will be Brian Greenspun and his brother, Greenspun Media Group Chairman Danny Greenspun, friends Bob Ritchey, Harvey Diederich and Burt Buy, son-in-law Matt Brookhart and brother-in-law Jeff Naples.
The family said donations can be made in Doug Ritchie's memory to the Las Vegas Sun Summer Camp Fund.
Ed Koch can be reached at 259- 4090 or at koch@lasvegassun. com.
archive
