Former Cape council member dies, remembered as 'wonderful public servant'

Former Cape Girardeau City Council member Marcia Southard-Ritter was remembered Monday as “a wonderful public servant” by former mayor Jay Knudtson.

Southard-Ritter, a lifelong resident of Cape Girardeau, died Sunday at age 73.

Loretta Schneider, who served on the council with Southard-Ritter, said, “She will be missed.”

Southard-Ritter served two four-year terms on the council. She first was elected in 2002 and again in 2006.

In April 2005, women for the first time outnumbered men on the seven-member council. The council comprised four women and three men.

Southard-Ritter downplayed the role of gender in winning election to her first term in 2002.

“I don’t think I won because of any female perspective that I might bring,” she told the Southeast Missourian. But she added women “bring strengths that are different and round out the council.”

Schneider said Southard- Ritter was “a good council member” who put “a great deal of thought and study” into every issue.

Knudtson served as mayor during her tenure on the council.

“She was an absolute servant,” he said. “She didn’t play politics.”

Knudtson described Southard-Ritter as an “absolute humanitarian” who served on the council “for the right reasons.”

He said, “In many ways, she was the glue who held our council together.”

Council members didn’t agree on every issue. But Knudtson said council members had “great respect for each other.”

When it came to city business, Southard-Ritter did her homework, he said.

The former mayor said Southard-Ritter sought to help the entire community, not just her ward.

“She didn’t see any ward lines,” he said. “She didn’t see any political lines.”

She championed the building of the Shawnee Park Center to serve residents on the city’s south side, Knudtson said.

“She was absolutely the torch-bearer for that facility,” he said.

Schneider agreed.

“She felt so strongly that we needed a community center in that part of town,” she said.

Schneider described Southard-Ritter as a “quiet sort of person” who was “very family-oriented.”

Knudtson and Schneider said Southard-Ritter did not seek the limelight. She didn’t seek public credit for her efforts in city government, they said.

Schneider said Southard-Ritter had a successful health-care career.

“She was extremely competent in her field,” she said.

She served as vice president of patient care at Saint Francis Medical Center from 1982 to 1998.

Knudtson said, “She made me a better mayor. She made me a better person.”

He added, “Cape Girardeau has lost a wonderful public servant.”

mbliss@semissourian.com

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