Bio-Murray, IdaRitenour

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Ida (Murray) Ritenour
(1876-1968)

Ida (Murray) Ritenour was born on April 4, 1876 at Normalville, Fayette County, PA the daughter of Elijah and Hannah (Minerd) Murray.

At the age of nine, in May 1885, Ida was orphaned when her parents died just eight days apart. She and her sister Lucy were adopted five years later by a cousin, Richard S. and Mary Jane (Whetsel) Murray. Her adoptive father became tax collector of Springfield Twp., and was said by the Connellsville Daily Courier to be "regarded as one of the most thorough men ever to be in that office…."

In April 1900, Ida married widower Aaron Ritenour (1861-1933), the son of Christopher and Sarah (Miller) Ritenour. They were 15 years apart in age. The Courier reported that the ceremony was performed at the home of Walter Prinkey, and that afterward, "an excellent supper was served."

Aaron’s first wife, Flora Ritenour, had died in 1897, leaving five children – Lyda Ohler, Bertha Garlick, Alva Ritenour, George Ritenour and Scott Ritenour. Aaron and Ida went on to have seven children of their own – Duella Hoover, Leroy C. Ritenour, Ernest Ritenour, Anna Morgan, Mary Baird-Pirl, Sarah Hoyle and Rebecca Ranker.

In the photo seen here, Aaron and Ida stand with their son Ernest.

Aaron was a carpenter by trade, and also a timber contractor and farmer. In November 1896, the Courier reported that "While on the roof of his wagon shed…, [he] became ill, and fainted, fell a distance of 15 feet on a pile of rails and stones, bruising him considerably."

They resided at St. John’s School near Normalville. She was a member of the Melcroft Assembly of God Church, and later attended the Christian and Missionary Alliance Church at Donegal, PA.

The marriage always seems to have been rocky. According to a newspaper article published circa 1921, in a newspaper in Indiana, PA, Ida had "left her husband 33 times during the 21 years of their married life..." At the time the story appeared, Ida was residing in or near Scottdale, Westmoreland County, PA, where she worked in a restaurant. She sued Aaron for non-support, and he was ordered to pay $30 a month to support her and their three youngest children. With the court award, added to her $15 a week pay, she would be able to "barely make both ends meet," she said. Aaron, on the other hand, told the newspaper that he was so old that "it is almost impossible for him to do a day's work," and that he was "puzzled to know how he is going to get the money with which to meet the court's order."

A bird's-eye view of industrial Scottdale

Sadly, Aaron died at age 72, the day after Christmas, 1933. He had been sick for a week, and succumbed to "complications." He was buried at Normalville Cemetery.

In the years as a widow, Ida later lived in Scottdale and Jones Mills, PA. Suffering from a lingering illness, Ida resided in later years with her daughter Duella at Jones Mills. She died on Feb. 12, 1968. She is buried at the Normalville Cemetery.

The Ritenours are mentioned in Chip’s Off the Old Block’s by Kimberly (Ritenour) Gach.

~ Son Leroy Ritenour ~

Son Leroy Ritenour ( ? - ? ) "was a life long resident of the Normalville area and a retired farmer and carpenter," said the Courier. "He was a member of the Hampton Church of God."

~ Son Ernest Ritenour ~

Son Earnest Ritenour ( ? - ? ) was a lumberman of the Normalville area.

~ Daughter Duella (Ritenour) Hoover ~

Daughter Duella Ritenour married Heiskell C. "Happy" Hoover.

Happy worked in coal mines of Indian Head and Melcroft, PA for 31 years, and was a member of the United Mine Workers of America.

~ Daughter Rebecca (Ritenour) Ranker ~

Daughter Rebecca Ritenour (1912- ? ) married Eugene Ranker.

He owned an automobile business in Scottdale, Fayette County, PA for 10 years before moving to Florida in 1950, and establishing another Ranker Motors there. Eugene died in Fort Myers, FL, at the age of 54. (Eugene's nephew, John Ranker, owns the Ranker dealership in Connellsville.)

Their daughter Antoine "Toni" Ranker (1949-2010) married Russ Rocksund. They resided in Tennessee and Florida. Over the years, Toni graciously and unselfishly provided important material for this Minerd.com webpage. Sadly, Toni died on Feb. 9, 2010, in Florida, at the age of 60.

~ Daughter Sarah (Ritenour) Hoyle ~

Daughter Rebecca Ritenour married Kenneth A. Hoyle. He was employed by National Tube Division of U.S. Steel Corporation in McKeesport, near Pittsburgh, Allegheny County, PA.

The furnaces of the National Tube works are seen at left in a rare old postcard image.

~ Daughter Anna (Ritenour) Morgan ~

Daughter Anna Ritenour ( ? - ? ) married Thomas A. Morgan ( ? - ? ). They resided in Scottdale.

Their son John E. Morgan (1925-2004) was "a former employee of the former Ruth Lumber Co., of Scottdale, and previously had been employed with the Pittsburgh and West Virginia Railroad," said his obituary in the Courier.