Suzanne Raisin Ritchie

Sue Ritchie, one of the City’s first female real estate brokers and a 4th generation Californian, has died at the age of 95.

Born Suzanne Raisin on July 25, 1927, in San Francisco, she narrowly missed the chance for future fame when her mother overruled her father’s idea to name her California Raisin. Later her family moved to the Peninsula where she graduated from Burlingame High School. She went to college at Cal, where she was a member of Delta Gamma and Ace of Clubs. After graduating in 1949, she moved to San Francisco and worked at J. Walter Thompson advertising. While living on Russian Hill she met a neighbor named John Ritchie. They were married 100 days later, on December 27, 1952. After John founded a commercial real estate company, Sue earned a broker’s license but chose to work in residential real estate instead with Barbara Wright Realty, then with Hill & Co., and ultimately as cofounder of Ritchie-Hallanan, a woman-owned boutique firm that was ahead of its time. Her final deal, after 50 years in the business, was the highest-priced residential sale of that year.

Sue was particularly proud of having worked with cable car savior Freidel Klussmann in the early days of San Francisco Beautiful. Their mission was to plant trees in the city and to beautify every neighborhood. She was a member of the Francisca Club and the Colonial Dames, and she hosted many events for the Japan Society, St. Andrews Society, and the California Historical Society at their home in Presidio Terrace. She also endured countless car shows at Pebble Beach and life as an E Clampus Vitus “widow” with her usual good humor. She had a beautiful smile and a lead foot, and was known to race the 55 Sacramento Muni bus by driving her station wagon up the sidewalk and pulling into the bus stop so her boys could get on and make it to school in time.

After endless agonies trying to grow flowers in her foggy backyard in San Francisco, Sue’s joy for gardening bloomed late in life at their property in Rutherford. She excelled at throwing parties, was a great cook and never said no to an ice cream cone. She loved dogs, cats and pet rats (but hated snakes), summers at Glenbrook and visits to Honolulu, and most of all, movie stars (but not “celebrities”). Her greatest calling in life was having a good time, which she did with many wonderful lifelong friends.

She was predeceased by her husband John and her eldest son Randy. She is survived by daughter Charlotte (Paul Bruin), son Mark (Renee LeBaron), daughter Tori (Sam Whiting) and granddaughters Harriet and Bennett Ritchie. The family wishes to thank those who helped with Sue’s care, especially Ana Bautista, Michell Literato, and Lena Sekiranda at Terra Linda Christian Homes. In accordance with her wishes, there will be no memorial, but her ashes will be scattered off Honolulu to join JR’s. Aloha Sweet Sue.