Resident, Sterling town administrator, volunteer
Jeff Ritter. (Courtesy photo)
Harvard resident Jeff Ritter passed away suddenly Oct. 27, 2014.
Jeff was a native of Detroit, Mich., where his father worked in an auto factory. His blue-collar Midwestern roots were always important to him. He graduated with a bachelor’s and a master’s degree in public policy from the University of Michigan and first worked for the state of Michigan.
Upon moving to Massachusetts, Jeff earned a Certificate of Special Studies in Management and Administration from the Harvard University Extension School. He eventually became the Massachusetts Commissioner of Medical Security and developed the Children’s Health Insurance Plan to provide health insurance to uninsured children. This became a cornerstone of state policy and served as a model for the nation. He was especially proud of this achievement. Jeff then became the CIO for the Massachusetts Department of Employment and Training, where he worked for 11 years.
He later entered local government in Harvard before becoming a highly respected town administrator in Hatfield, Templeton, and Sterling. Jeff undertook a wide range of town management responsibilities large and small, and he thoroughly enjoyed making an impact on small towns. He attended supplementary training to be recognized as a Certified Small Town Administrator.
He served on numerous town, regional, and state committees including the Bare Hill Pond Watershed Management Committee and the Sewer Commission in Harvard, and on the Montachusett Regional Transit Authority Advisory Board and the Small Town Administrators of Massachusetts’ Legislative Committee. He was known by many in town for his work on the annual frog count. He was also a member of MENSA.
Jeff was enthusiastic, opinionated, humorous, and extraordinarily passionate. He was a constant reader, lifelong learner, problem-solver, and lover of corny jokes. He was also an outdoor enthusiast and a practitioner of Transcendental Meditation.
Jeff was looking forward to spending his impending retirement with his wife Amy, and he was tremendously proud of his daughters Lily and Emma. He was very devoted to his sister Julie and his extended family. He was deeply loved and will be dearly missed.
Donations in his memory can be made to the David Lynch Foundation, the U.S. Hereditary Angioedema Association, or the Massachusetts Good Neighbor Energy Fund.
