Editorial: Doug Ritchie: 1920-2006

Tuesday, April 4, 2006 | 7:15 a.m.

Doug Ritchie was right there at the beginning when the Las Vegas Sun was born in 1950. Ritchie, who died Saturday in San Luis Obispo, Calif., played a critical and lasting role in the Sun's success.

Ritchie, who was Sun Publisher Barbara Greenspun's older brother, was the newspaper's founding classified ad manager, and in the 1970s he became head of Sun promotions and in the 1980s he became head of public relations.

"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, helped make it happen," Sun Editor 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."

Whether it was leading his troops as a British army major in India and Pakistan in the late 1940s, a period of conflict that ultimately led to independence for those two nations, or acting as an executive at the feisty Sun, Ritchie's voice was one of reason and calm.

Ritchie's presence, as a newspaper executive and as a family man, will be sorely missed by the Las Vegas Sun and the many people whose lives he touched.