Photo: Bud’s Photography.

One of Kinston’s top public servants in the city’s proud history died Monday night when O.A. “Buddy” Ritch passed away. Ritch was 95.

Ritch served as mayor of Kinston for three terms from 1985-97 and for a fourth term from 2005-09. He grew up in Charlotte but he and his wife, Mary Mac (a Chapel Hill native), moved to Kinston in 1955. They operated the Western Auto store in downtown Kinston for 22 years.

The funeral services for Ritch will be Friday at Westminster United Methodist Church, 1001 Westminster Lane. Visitation will be at 1 p.m. with the funeral beginning at 3.

News of Ritch’s passing spread like wildfire through Kinston and Eastern North Carolina Tuesday. 

“There really are no words to describe how much Buddy meant to Kinston,” Danny Rice, a city leader for several decades, said. “He provided great leadership to this city during critical times and was a supporter of every citizen in Lenoir County.” 

Alice Tingle was a city councilperson for Kinston during Ritch’s second term.

“We have lost a good man,” she said. “It was a blessing for me to serve alongside Buddy Ritch when he served as our mayor during my tenure as city council. … He touched many, many lives.”

Former Kinston-Lenoir County Parks and Recreation Director Bill Ellis lauded Ritch’s love for Kinston.

“That man loved Kinston more than any other person I’ve ever met,” Ellis said. “He always put the citizens of Kinston first, before anything.”

The phrase “cheerleader for Kinston” always comes up when city and county leaders recall Ritch.

“He was Kinston’s greatest cheerleader,” Jan Parson, who served two terms as a city councilperson when Ritch was mayor in his first three terms. “(There was) no question, he believed in Kinston.”

Scott Stevens, Kinston’s city manager from 2007-11, said, “I didn’t know a bigger cheerleader for Kinston than Mr. Ritch.” 

Downtown businessman and philanthropist Rob Bizzell also used the moniker to describe Ritch.

“He was the consummate cheerleader for Kinston,” Bizzell said. “He was always a proponent for downtown development and especially South Queen Street development.” 

Kinston’s current mayor, Dontario Hardy, grew up in Kinston and remembered Ritch’s service to the city during his first three terms and the final one in 2005. Hardy said Ritch’s service to the community influenced him to run for mayor for the first time in 2017.

“He was a shining light for many years here in Kinston” Hardy said. “He was a strong advocate for our city and wanted to see it grow. … He was just a happy person and I loved his enthusiasm for this city.”

The man that succeeded Ritch as mayor in 2009, B.J. Murphy, also praised Ritch’s memory.

“Mayor Ritch is a legend among the greats in our community,” Murphy said. “He was mayor when I was a student and mayor when I was a grown man. He and Mary Mac set the standard for a powerhouse political couple who deeply loved every inch of our community.”

Ritch was rarely seen in public without his loving and supportive wife, who passed away in 2010; they were married for 58 years. City leader John Marston was impressed with the relationship between Buddy and Mary Mac.

“She backed him in everything he did,” Marston said. “They were truly Mr. and Mrs. Kinston.”

It was Marston and a group of city leaders — which included Rice, Bizzell, Tingle and others — that convinced Ritch to run for mayor in 2005. Marston said the group met in Bizzell’s office to encourage Ritch to run again.

“He looked around at the group of people we had in there and asked, ‘What can I do to help Kinston?’” Marston recalled. “I told him, ‘You’re going to be the next mayor of Kinston.’”

Marston was correct as Ritch won the mayor’s race in a close contest with Murphy, who would succeed Ritch in 2009 and serve two terms in the office.

“Everybody loved Buddy,” Rice said. “He had to be one of the most popular mayors and public servants we’ve ever had.” 

A major accomplishment of Ritch’s second tenure in office was winning the coveted All-American City award again; the city won it in 1988 in Ritch’s first term as mayor. It was part of Ritch’s platform when he ran for the mayor’s seat in 2005 and his promise came through in 2009, when Kinston again earned the honor.

Stevens, who was a key part of the All-American City effort as the city manager, said the civic honor couldn’t have happened without Ritch’s leadership.

“One of my shining professional moments was the American All-City award — Mayor Ritch was a true champion for the All-American City,” Stevens said. “When he first mentioned the milestone, I didn’t think much of it, but after he pushed for it, it became one of my proudest professional moments.”

Another key accomplishment in Ritch’s final term in office was the establishment of the visitor’s center on U.S. 70. Lucy Marston was the center’s first director after it was finished in 2007. She said it was the incredible effort of Ritch — along with Earl Harper, Lonnie Blizzard and Ellis — that made the dream of the visitor’s center come true.

“Buddy was determined — that’s DETERMINED in capital letters — that the visitor’s center would come to fruition,” Lucy Marston said. “Buddy and that group did all the legwork before I was even hired. … (Ritch) was a force of nature. If he made his mind up about anything, it was getting done; he’d move heaven and earth to make it happen.”

John Marston said he truly loved and respected Ritch, but he got nervous any time he saw Ritch striding towards him.

“You hated seeing Buddy coming, because you knew he was going to want money for a project,” Marston said with a laugh. “It was really hard to turn Buddy down. But I don’t know of anyone who loved Kinston more than Buddy Ritch.”

Parson said Ritch is going to be missed.

“He will be missed by many, especially our downtown merchants as he was very supportive of downtown revitalization,” she said.

Bizzell said, “There’s going to be a huge void in our community with his passing.”