MARGUERITE C. (SHAUGHNESSY) RITTERSHAUS, 94, of Hingham, passed away on Thursday, Dec. 1st, 2011 surrounded by her loving family at the Harbor House Nursing Center in Hingham. Mrs. Rittershaus was born in Hingham and was a lifelong resident of the town. She was a 1935 graduate of Hingham High School and also graduated from Bryant and Stratton College in Boston. Until the age of 70 she was an admissions clerk at Milton Hospital and then was associated with the Cohasset Council on Aging, retiring at the age of 80. She then served as a volunteer at South Shore Hospital in Weymouth. She was a lifelong communicant of St. Paul's Church in Hingham and was the founder of the Hingham Chapter of the Womens' Kiwanians. Mrs. Rittershaus always had a smile on her face and was known to all as 'Gram'.
Wife of the late George H. Rittershaus, Sr., she leaves her daughter, Janet and her husband Leonard Ross, M.D. of Cummaquid Heights, MA and Longboat Key, FL; and her son George H. Rittershaus, Jr. and his wife Denise of Pembroke and Tisbury, Martha's Vineyard. Grandmother of Joseph B. Mayer, Jr. of Dartmouth, Lorri A. Mayer of Abington, Andrea M. Mayer of Chandler, AZ, David M. Mayer of Eureka, CA and Hannah B. Rittershaus of Boston. Great Grandmother of Sarah M. Mayer of Somerset, MA, Benjamin Mayer of Fairhaven and Marguerite B. Mayer-Ehrstein of Abington. Sister of the late Ted Shaughnessy.
Funeral Tuesday, Dec. 6th at 9 AM from the Downing Cottage Funeral Chapel, 21 Pond St., Hingham followed by a Funeral Mass at St. Paul's Church, 147 North St., Hingham Square at 10 AM. Friends may visit at the Downing Chapel on Monday from 5-8 PM.
In lieu of flowers, donations in her memory may be made to Glastonbury Abbey, 16 Hull St., Hingham, MA 02043 or to the charity of choice.
Interment in St. Paul's Cemetery, Hingham.
The Rittershaus family would like to thank the nursing staff at the Harbor House Nursing Center in Hingham for their dedication and thoughtful care of 'Gram' during her stay with them.