OBITUARIES, May 19, 2006

Mary Ritts, Evelyn D. Moore, Margaret Marcino, Robert A. Winters

Mary Ritts
Puppeteer, TV personality
   
PASADENA, Calif. — Mary Donnelly Ritts died Sunday, a month before her 96th birthday.
   She and her husband moved to Princeton in 1959 where they were longtime residents. In 1998, she moved to a retirement community in Pasadena.
   She was an artist, musician and familiar television performer throughout the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s.
   After graduating from the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, she became a fashion illustrator for department stores Bonwit Teller and John Wanamaker as well as Stetson Hats. Her work appeared frequently in Vogue and Harper’s Bazaar. She also played organ and piano on a series of radio programs in Philadelphia and Dallas in the 1940s.
   In the early 1950s, she and her husband, Paul, created The Ritts Puppets for "In the Park," a weekly CBS television series, also starring Bill Sears as a wise and witty gentleman who befriended a menagerie of animals in Central Park Zoo: Geoffrey the Giraffe, Albert Chipmunk, Calvin Crow and Mrs. Ritts’ long-eyelashed ostrich, Magnolia.
   The puppets became frequent TV guests on the Ed Sullivan, Johnny Carson, Merv Griffin, Dinah Shore, Jimmy Dean and Mike Douglas shows. They were the hosts of NBC’s top-rated Saturday morning series, "The Pink Panther Show," and also starred in two CBS children’s specials, "Albert the Magnificent" and "The Great Silence."
   Their one-hour NBC special, "For the Love of Fred," about a caterpillar who forgets how to turn himself into a butterfly, won Christopher and Gabriel awards and was seen around the world in many foreign-language versions. It was shot on location in Princeton and Lawrence and featured local residents in cameo roles.
   The Ritts Puppets appeared with Jerry Lewis in his motion picture, "The Errand Boy," and were also featured performers on NBC’s science series for young people, "Exploring," and "Me Too," a daily program for preschoolers. Paul and Mary Ritts were the on-camera co-hosts of "Family," a daily, live hour of celebrity interviews, satirical puppet vignettes and live music played by Mrs. Ritts, who surrounded herself with three keyboards — a piano, a Hammond organ and a celeste.
   "Family" followed "The Today Show" on New York’s WNBC for three years in the early 1960s. The couple’s original children’s songs were made into a Columbia record album, "Let’s Have a Puppet Show."
   An accomplished singer both as herself and as Magnolia the Ostrich, Mrs. Ritts sang hundreds of songs on television with diverse and noteworthy accompanists including Lionel Hampton, Skitch Henderson, Mort Lindsey and "The Tonight Show Orchestra."
   Mrs. Ritts was also a successful portrait painter. Her commissioned works won awards in national juried art shows and she frequently sketched guests, live, on the "Family" television series. In her later years, she continued to paint and lectured on subjects like portraiture, decoupage, make-up and "staying young."
   After her husband’s death in 1980, she established the Paul Ritts Memorial Scholarship Fund for the Greater Princeton Youth Orchestra.
   She is survived by her son, Mark, of La Canada, Calif.; and grandchildren Dan Ritts of Upton, Mass., James Ritts of San Diego and Gabriella Ritts of La Canada.
Evelyn D. Moore
Retired legal secretary
   
Evelyn DeGrave Moore of Princeton died Tuesday at University Medical Center at Princeton. She was 95.
   Born in the Wilburtha section of Ewing Township, she lived there with her family until her marriage in 1936 when she moved to Trenton. In 1945, she and her husband purchased a home in Morrisville. Pa.
   They were members of the Morrisville Presbyterian Church, serving as officers and members of committees that built the new church in the early 1950s. She was a member of the church for more than 50 years.
   She graduated from Trenton Central High School in 1929 and was employed as a legal secretary. Following her husband’s death, she was employed by Croasdale and Engelhart Jewelers in Trenton until her retirement in 1976.
   She was a talented amateur pianist, having studied with Edward Mueller, a noted Trenton organist, and taught piano in Morrisville for many years, fostering the talents of numerous students. At age 72, she became a self-taught artist in oil and acrylics.
   Daughter of the late Gustave DeGrave Sr. and Mary K. DeGrave, wife of the late Orville E. Moore, sister of the late Irma Clee, Gustave DeGrave Jr., Cora Giedlinski and Lawrence DeGrave, she is survived by her daughter and son-in-law, Janice M. Kisthardt and James N. Kisthardt of Princeton, with whom she had resided since 1998; granddaughter Joan B. Kisthardt of Boston; nieces Grace C. Starrett and husband Robert of Ewing and Marilyn D. Schulz and husband Ward of Fulshear, Texas; nephew Donald DeGrave and wife Pat of Cinnaminson; and several grand and great-grandnieces and grand and great-grandnephews.
   The funeral will be 11 a.m. Saturday at Wilson-Apple Funeral Home, 2560 Pennington Road, Pennington, with the Rev. Trent Hancock of the Morrisville Presbyterian Church officiating.
   Burial will be in the Titusville Methodist Cemetery, Hopewell Township.
   Calling hour is 10 a.m. until time of service at the funeral home.
   In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, 120 Wall St., 19th Floor, New York, NY 10005 (www.jdrf.org) or the First Presbyterian Church of Morrisville, 771 N. Pennsylvania Ave., Morrisville, PA 19067.
   For further information or to send a condolence, visit www.wilsonapple.com.
Margaret Marcino
Retired registered nurse
   
Margaret Marcino died Tuesday at Acorn Glen assisted living residence, Princeton. She was 83.
   Born in Elizabeth, she was a Cranford resident 45 years.
   A registered nurse, she received her nursing degree from Elizabeth General Hospital.
   She is survived by her husband of 60 years, Karol "Charlie" Marcino; daughters Megan Eagen of Princeton, Nora M. Long of New Market, N.H., and Carol M. Smith of Toms River; son Charles J. Marcino of Sparta; sisters Betty Sherrier of Rahway and Rose Henry of Linden; brothers Robert Mitchell of San Pedro, Calif., and Joseph Mitchell of Colonia; 13 grandchildren; and many nieces and nephews.
   Memorial contributions may be made to St. Joseph’s Shrine, 1050 Long Hill Road, Stirling, NJ 07980.
Robert A. Winters
Memorial service scheduled
   
A memorial service for Robert A. Winters, who died Jan. 12, will be held 1 p.m. Saturday, May 27, at Princeton University Chapel.
   From 1969 to 1978, he was an assistant university librarian at Princeton University. From 1955 to 1969, he was assistant to the chairman of the physics department and secretary of the Princeton-Pennsylvania Accelerator.
   A Princeton University graduate, he was co-founder, first president and director of the Princeton University Employees Federal Credit Union.