March
22, 2002
Ritchott
Ends Career at Mount Holyoke in Style
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Photo:
Fred Leblanc
Reggie
Ritchott (far right) and his wife, Rita, arrive at Eliot
House by stretch llimo.
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Having made the commute
from his Chicopee home to MHC 7,500 or so times during his thirty-year
career in Facilities Management, Reggie Ritchott deserved to put
his feet up and let someone else do the driving, a friend decided.
And so it was that
Ritchott and his wife of fifty-five years, Rita, stepped out of
a stretch limousine to attend a retirement party in Ritchott's
honor at Eliot House March 7. Ritchott, who served as sexton of
Abbey Chapel, had lunch and shared stories with thirty or so colleagues
and well-wishers.
"Reggie became
an invaluable part of the chapel," said Andrea Ayvazian,
the College's dean of religious life. When she arrived at MHC
and began offering services in the chapel, "Reggie cheered
me on" through the slow process of building up a congregation,
Ayvazian said. "He always said, ‘You can do it, Andrea.'
It was like we were a team. I used to joke that he was my associate
pastor —students would say, ‘Hello, Father Reggie, how
are you?'" It was in gratitude for that friendship that Ayvazian
arranged and paid for the limousine ride.
Ritchott's retirement
plans revolve around spending more time with his sixteen grandchildren
and one great-grandchild. But he did hint that he might be willing
to put in another few years at the College—if a daily limousine
ride were part
of the deal.
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