The Twenty-Third Psalm 

The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
He maketh me to lie down in green pastures.
He leadeth me beside the still waters.
He restoreth my soul;
He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness
for His name's sake.
Yea, though I walk through
the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil for thou art with me;
Thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.
Thou preparest a table before me
in the presence of mine enemies.
Thou anointest my head with oil;
My cup runneth over.
Surely goodness and mercy
shall follow me all the days of my life
and I will dwell in the house of the Lord
for ever.

      Louise Ritter, 87, of Mexico , died at 9:50 a.m. Monday, Feb. 21, 2005, at Pin Oaks Nursing Center.

Funeral services will be held at 11 a.m. Thursday, Feb. 24, at Pickering Funeral Home with the Rev. Dale Stone officiating. Visitation is from 6 until 8 p.m. Wednesday at the funeral home. Burial will be in Elmwood Cemetery .

Mrs. Ritter was born on April 23, 1917, in Columbia , the daughter of Baxter and Rosa Jane ( Richardson ) Nichols. On May 31, 1936, in Rolla, she married Walter O. Ritter, who preceded her in death on June 6, 1985. Mrs. Ritter was a long-time member of the Mexico United Methodist Church . She had worked as a sales clerk at Montgomery Ward.

Survivors include a daughter, Mary Lou Campbell and her husband Charles, Centralia; a granddaughter, Peggy (Margaret Louise) Love, Columbia; and three great grandchildren, Kara, Ehran and Renee Schooler, Columbia.

Three brothers, Clarence Earl, Clifford Wallace and George Turner Nichols, and two sisters, Clara Pearl Wood and Edith Elizabeth Nichols, preceded her in death.

Memorial gifts may be made to the AMC Cancer Control Program in care of Pickering Funeral Home, 403 N. Western, Mexico, MO 65265.

Pickering Funeral Home  
Caring Service Since 1884