Goodness Gracious: Ritcheys Celebrate 40th Anniversary

“Goodness gracious it’s good!” Friday evening December 10th Charles and Janice Ritchey celebrated their 40th wedding anniversary at the Goodness Gracious Cafe in Murfreesboro. The surprise party was given by their children Edwin Ritchey and Kelly Walker. “I was more than 100 percent surprised,” mused Charles to his friends. “I did not suspect anything until I saw the cameras flashing and heard our five grandchildren yelling, “Surprise!”’  

Charles and Janice Ritchey married on December 19, 1970, at Auburn Baptist Church in Auburntown, TN. Janice had just completed a year of teaching at Auburn School and Charles was a Captain in the U.S. Army. “For a honeymoon, we toured Tennessee on the way to Fort Lee, Virginia,” Charles reported. “Yeah, and the Memphis Zoo was our first stop,” laughed Janice, “Because it was free!”  

Charles retired from military service in 1986 and worked for the Nashville Postal Service until 2002. Janice retired from teaching at Centertown Elementary in 2006 where she was instructor of special education. The couple resides in the Greenhill Community of northern Warren County. They return to Auburntown frequently to visit Janice’s mother Kizzie Vance and teach Sunday school at Auburn Baptist Church.

Those in attendance to the Ritchey’s 40th wedding anniversary celebration were: Kizzie Vance, Edwin, Sloane, Avery, Harper, and Sutton Ritchey, Eric, Kelly, Easton, and Jake Walker, Roger, Barbara and Rachel Steurer, Mark and Robin Parkhurst, Jimmy and Elaine Mingle, Ernest and Rita Davis, Paul and Connie Leyhew, and Eddie and Donna Nichols.