Obituary: Alta Marie (Trammel) Rittenberry
</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[Alta Marie (Trammel) Rittenberry, 83, of Harrisburg, went home to be with the Lord at 1:10 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 8, 2011. She was at home surrounded by her family.
Alta was born and raised in Saline County. She was Harrisburg High School's homecoming queen of 1945, the year that World War II ended. She married returning naval aviation cadet Denver F. Rittenberry of Raleigh on June 20, 1946. They remained married for 55 years, until his death on Jan. 13, 2001.
For those who remember, she graced the windows and floor of Myron's, as a living model and sales associate. After a long and vibrant life in the north. Alta and Denver returned to their roots and Alta, with her brothers, helped to run their father's business, Trammel Propane.
Alta was very creative and loved the arts. She loved silk screening, making her own Christmas cards and ornaments, among many other things. She was an avid flower gardener and aficionado and had a green thumb the size of Texas. She loved to walk on her father's farm in Pope County, marveling at the Lords creation. She had an adventurous spirit. At the age of 45, she learned to water ski and at the age of 50 she canoed and camped the Rio Grande River in Mexico.
She was preceded in death by her parents, Omer Trammel and Marie (Ellis) (Trammel) Womack; her husband Denver F. Rittenberry; and her brother Lendell Trammel.
She is survived by her siblings, Phillip Trammel (Brenda) of Harrisburg and Gary Trammel (Beverly) of Harrisburg; stepbrother and sister Chuck Womack (Billie) of Harrisburg and Ravella Malone; several children, Braden Riker Rittenberry (Lisa) of Elburn, Robin Dee Rittenberry-Richey (John) of Star Prairie, Wis., Brion Rittenberry (Cindy) of Gurnee and Blake Rittenberry (Diane) of Harrisburg; and several grandchildren; Laura, Ian, Duncan, Stephen, Samuel, Caleb, Nathan, Natalie, Denver, Kendal and many nephews and nieces.
She will be cremated according to her wishes. Visitation will be held at Little Chapel Church from 3 to 5 on Saturday, Nov. 12, 2011, with a memorial service from 5 to 6 p.m. Pastor Ed Nenonen and Pastor Jerry Alexander will officiate. Burial will be at a later time at Raleigh Masonic Cemetery. Condolences may be sent to the family through the obituary page at the Internet site www.reedfuneralchapel.com.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests that sons and daughters buy flowers and give them to their mothers with love. This is what Alta would want, as she always said " I want my flowers while I'm alive"…Or you can make a donation to Hospice of Southern Illinois Inc.