Rodney Nicholas Ritchie

Rodney Nicholas Ritchie of Gordonsville, VA, departed this life on December 29, 2023 at the age of 84. 

Rodney was an avid hunter and fisherman who later in life turned to feeding the deer, birds and squirrels in his backyard. He was a talented carpenter, mason, electrician and welder. There wasn’t much he couldn’t make or fix. 

He spent most of his career in construction with two employers—H.B. Sedwick, Jr., Inc. of Orange, VA and Michael L. Cook, Inc. of Richmond, VA. He spent much of his time in retirement attempting to win the Publishers Clearing House Sweepstakes.

Rodney was preceded in death by his parents, Richard and Edna Ritchie; brother, George Ritchie; and by mother-in-law and father-in-law, Vivian and Charles Thacker.

Rodney is survived by his devoted wife of 64 years, Margaret Lelia Ritchie; daughter, Kay Wright (Rick); son, Charles Ritchie; daughter, Margaret Ann Jefferson (Jeff); son, Walter Ritchie (Stacy); daughter, Kim Ritchie; “bonus”daughter,Bonita Shifflett; sister, Mary Graves (Cecil); sister-in-law, Pat Ritchie; fourteen grandchildren, Jarrett, Tracy, Brittany, Toni, Jonathan, Krystle, Jeffery,  Courtney, Nicholas, Ryan, Andrew, Morgan, Chance, and Chase; eighteen great-grandchildren; and special friends, Bessie Decatur, Pat and Ronnie Morris and Brenda and Pete Backe.

A memorial service will be held at 3:30 p.m. on Saturday, January 13, 2023 at Preddy Funeral Home, 301 N. Main Street, Gordonsville, VA. The family will receive friends from 2 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. at the funeral home. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations can be made to St. Jude Children’s Hospital online or mailed to 501 St. Jude Place, Memphis, TN 38105.

The family wishes to thank all of our friends who reached out to us and helped in so many ways during Rodney’s illness. Special thanks to the caring and compassionate doctors, nurses and staff of Dogwood Village, the University of Virginia Hospital and Martha Jefferson Hospital.