When asked his secret to long life, Geist-area resident Merle Ritter smiled and pointed to his wife, Dolly.
Ritter, a World War II veteran, recently marked his 100th birthday with a combination family reunion and birthday party at the Lawrence Township Veteran of Foreign Wars Post 261. A day before the big celebration, family members who arrived early gathered May 8 — his actual birthday — at Westminster Village North retirement community in Lawrence, where Ritter and his wife have lived for many years.
The centenarian was born and raised in Vermillion County, where his father sold cars and later worked as a railroad engineer.
“When I was 18 years old, my dad says, ‘You’re big enough to go to work, get in the car,’” he said. “This was during the war. So, I went to work on the railroad until I got drafted.”…