Thalia Ritschel

Thalia Ritschel, age 92, passed away on March

25, 2018 in Aurora, Colorado. Thalia was born in 1925 in Heraklion on the Greek island of Crete. She was a teenager during World War II when the German army occupied Crete. Thalia had many stories of her family’s experiences during that time, including having a German officer live in the family home.

After the war, Thalia became a flight attendant for Greek Airline TAE. While in Athens in 1948 she met Paul Ritschel, an employee of Trans World Airlines. They soon married and enjoyed 56 years of marriage together; raising three children. Through Paul’s work for TWA, they lived in many locations throughout the world including India, Iraq, Italy, and Spain. Thalia was proud to become a U.S. Citizen in 1950 and the family eventually moved to Denver, Colorado and then Albuquerque.

Thalia enjoyed volunteering for over a decade at Anna Kaseman Hospital. In retirement, Thalia and Paul loved traveling, dancing, and spending time with family and their many wonderful friends. After Paul passed in 2005, Thalia moved to Aurora, Colorado to be closer to her daughter Katherine.

Thalia is survived by her daughter Katherine Ward and husband Allen Ward of Centennial, Colorado; her son Dennis Ritschel and wife Kathleen Ritschel of Santa Fe; and her granddaughter Annie Ritschel and grandson Devin Ritschel of Santa Fe who both knew her as "Yaya" (Greek for grandmother). She is preceded in death by her husband Paul; daughter Velma; parents Epaminondas and Kleo Leontidis; and siblings Elly, Rena, George and Byron.

A celebration of Thalia’s life will be held at 11 am on May 4th at Sunset Memorial Park in Albuquerque where she will join Paul, with a reception following at French Mortuary on University Blvd. Memorial contributions in Thalia’s memory may be made to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation (www.bcrf. org), the American Heart Association (www.heart. org), or the Dumb Friends League of Colorado which works to end pet homelessness (www.ddfl.org).