Lonnie Ritter Obituary

Lonnie Ritter

It is with deep sorrow and much love that we mourn the passing of Lonnie Ritter, who departed this life Friday, February 6, 2026, at age 53. A proud veteran of the U.S. Marine Corps, Lonnie was a dedicated patriot who served during the Middle East conflict.

He was born August 30, 1972, in Fostoria, to Connie Valenti and Vernon Ray Moody. After graduating from Fostoria High School in 1991, Lonnie felt the call to serve and enlisted in the USMC. He was assigned to the infantry and completed Sniper School at Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune.

During his service, Lonnie was stationed at various locations, including a Navy ship for several months. He was also a security guard at Camp David. Lonnie valued this service highly and attained the rank of Sgt. E-5. For his honorable service, Lonnie was awarded several honors, including the National Defense Service Medal, Good Conduct Medal, Sea Service Deployment Ribbon, Presidential Service Badge, Armed Forces Service Badge, and others. For the past several years, Lonnie was very active in the Findlay Marine Corps League chapter.

Following his active duty, Lonnie attended Bowling Green University in construction management. He worked for Buehrer Architecture Group for several years, later for Toledo Zoo & Aquarium as a maintenance supervisor and director of operations, and most recently for J. E. Dunn Construction in Bowling Green. Lonnie was most proud of his work on New Riegel and Clyde High Schools, where he was construction manager for Buehrer Group, which designed and built the new schools.

Lonnie married Jennifer Wilson in 2004 in Tiffin and was blessed with two children, Drake and Megan. They later divorced, and he married Abigail King, adding five stepchildren to his family. Abigail passed last year after a long battle with cancer, which was very difficult for Lonnie and her children.

Lonnie is survived by his father, Vernon Ray Moody; his children, Drake and Megan Ritter; his stepfathers, Mike Ritter and Ron Bickel; and stepchildren, Anastasia Blankenship, Troy Gross, Tanner Gross, Belinda Burkett, and Denny Burkett. He is also survived by 12 siblings, Julie (John) Miller-Moody, Beth Ann Cleyber, Cooper-Ramirez, Melissa Moody, Lorison (Ann) Moody, Michael (Katie) Ritter Jr., Matthew Ritter, Angie Bouillon, Jim (Mary) Bickel, Alyssa (Tom) Sharninghouse, Kelly (Bob) Fittro, and Meardith Young.

Lonnie was preceded in death by his wife, Abigail; his mother, Connie Ritter; his brothers, Tim Moody and Kevin Bickel; and his sister, Lisa Orume.

A "Celebration of Life" honoring Lonnie with full military honors will be at a later date.

The family requests that memorial donations be made in Lonnie's memory to PTSD Foundation of America (https://ptsdusa.org).

"Gone but not forgotten. Thank you for your service and sacrifice, Brother."