Estelle Macauley Ritter

Celebrated and lived each day with a joyous enthusiasm and grace all who knew her admired and drew inspiration from. Born and christened Estelle Macauley on 28 April, 1924, she and her dear sister Jane, daughters of Edward Macauley of Gross Point, Michigan, granddaughters of Alvin Macauley, President and chairman of the Board of Packard Motors for 46 years, grew-up during the Great Depression and World War II, instilled with the admonition that all people possess dignity, all work is honorable and education is the foundation of good character and sucess in life. Those were core values she devoted herself to exemplifying and encouraged in her children and grandchildren. A love of language, history, especially English and Scottish history befitting the family surname, she conveyed in grace of expression and writing. She adored life's rich tapestry, accepting its travails as she experienced them with a graceful equanimity and irrepressible optimism. Estelle excelled at the Wheeler School for Women in Providence, RI, then attended Mt. Vernon Women's College in Washington D.C. Later living for a time in New York City she studied with Martha Graham at the Center for Contemporary Dance. During the war she drove ambulances for the Woman's Army Ambulance Corps and volunteered in local hospitals in Detroit caring for up to twenty babies at a time most of whom were under six months of age., while Packard converted it's assembly line to wartime production of engines for aircraft and PT boats. She liked to say that 'somewhere there are people who were held and rocked by me.' They were in loving hands. It was her wholesome 'the girl I left behind' beauty that caused the crew of a B-17 to name their bomber 'Miss Mac' in her honor. In 1944 she met her first husband, Marvin L. Bodeen USAAC, married and had one child, Jonathan Lowell Bodeen, born 25 April 1946. They divorced in 1947 whereupon with her mother, Cecil Holterman, she traveled by train with Jon to Ukaih and Cloverdale, Northern California. There she met Dr. Joseph L. Nielson. They married in 1951 and had fraternal twins, Callie and Jamie Nielson, Jon becoming his adopted son. For the next fifteen years the family lived in Whittier, California the children attending local schools, Dr. Nielson opening a private practice and on staff at Presbyterian hospital. Estelle quickly became deeply involved in community volunteer and charitable work and Whittier society. Following Joseph's untimely death in 1965, Estelle married Dr. James H. Ritter continuing to live in Whittier with responsibilities for a family now of seven children, while remaining very active in the community. Dr. Ritter accepted a position in surgery in Santa Barbara at Cottage Hospital in 1973 and for the next fifteen years the family lived in Montecito. There Estelle began her high-profile relationship with the Music Academy of the West in charge of its fund-raising programs, the 'Treasure House', and community outreach. With her mother and sister living in close proximity and the nurture of family and friends, the Montecito years provided Estelle both challenging engagement for her vision and skills and the anchor of a fulfilling home life. In 1980 Dr. Ritter accepted an interim position as Chief of Surgery for the Navajo Nation and with three younger children the family moved to Ft. Defiance, for a life-changing three year adventure and cultural emersion that she would always say changed her perspective in many wonderful and unanticipated ways that she cherished. Her love of Navajo, culture, art, and history, and above all their gentle humanity, she embraced with a fervent commitment to soften the 'wind of misunderstanding' between Navajo and Anglo culture. When Dr. Ritter retired in 1989, they moved to Sonora, California where the family's history on the Nielson-Nicol side extended back to the Gold Rush, and where the family's summer home on the North Fork of the Stanislaus River was a special retreat and haven for children and grandchildren alike od all ages. In Sonora Estelle adapted her life once again to new circumstances and challenges and, like everywhere she lived, became deeply involved in the community and its history. She served as a life member, curator and docent of the Tuolumne City memorial Museum from 1993 until 2003. As a Director of the County's Historical Society and Landmarks Committee responsible for many notable initiatives and programs, her leadership, enthusiasm, and expertise remain an inspiring part of her legacy of integrity and compassion, remembered fondly by all who knew her. Briefly living in Washington DC and Silver Spring Maryland to be closer to family, she returned with Jim Ritter to reside in Ojai, California not far from Ventura County Hospital where he'd served as Chief of Surgery before retiring. Dr. Ritter died in Ojai in January 2012. Accepting life's exigencies with her usual indefatigable aplomb, Estelle settled into her life in Ojai with beautiful views of the mountains, gentle ocean breezes and tendril of fog clinging to the canyons of her hilltop vista and 'windowon the world' as she liked to say. She blessed us all with her exceptional courage, compassion, loving kindness, tenacity in the face of adversity and a fierce love of life. She will ever remain with us in gentle insistence that we She is survived by sons Jonathan Macauley Nielson and James Macauley Nielson-Heartland and daughter Callie Jean Nielson-Pinto; grandson's Jeffrey Macauley and Evan Andrew Nielson, Nicol Gaffney, and Steve and Carl Ritter; granddaughters; Jenna Nielson, and Alice and Julie Ritter, and many great-grandchildren, nieces, nephews,and cousins of the Nielson-Ritter family. She will be laid to rest near her mother, Cecil, dear sister Jane, husbands DR. Joseph L. Nielson and James Ritter and other family members in Columbia , California. Her beloved granddaughter, Angel Gaffney, who left us so tragically at the age of 18 and whose passing Estelle mourned so deeply will comfort her in eternal embrace. The family request that in lieu of flowers, donations be made in Estelle's name to At Home in Ojai which cared so wonderfully for Jim and offers such respectful dignity to its resident and thier families.