Carl Ritter Sr.

Carl Dean Ritter Sr, also known as “Pete”, of Cape Girardeau, formerly of Advance, transitioned to his heavenly home surrounded by his family Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025, at his home at the age of 84.

Carl was born June 6, 1940, in Advance and was the son of Jacob and Maud Barks Ritter.

Carl was a 1958 graduate of Advance High School, where he was a member of the Class M state runner-up basketball team his junior year and achieved the honors of All-State his junior and senior years. He went on to play basketball at Southeast Missouri State College from 1959 to 1963, where he was Southeast’s all-time career scoring leader with 1,916 points, and earned both second-team National Association of Basketball Coaches (1963) and Associated Press (1961) All-America honors. He also held the following records at Southeast: Career free throws made, 580; career free throws attempted, 664; single season free throws made, 184; single game free throws made, 18; and single game free throws attempted, 22.

He was a member of the Missouri Basketball Hall of Fame and was part of Southeast’s inaugural Hall of Fame class in 2002. Ritter’s jersey number — 32 — is the only retired number in Southeast Missouri State men’s basketball history. He was the first draft pick from Southeast Missouri State who was selected in the 10th round (75th overall pick) by the St. Louis Hawks in the 1963 NBA draft. He was honored by being inducted into the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame in Springfield on Aug. 7, 1993. In 2019, the inaugural year, he was inducted into the Advance High School Sports Hall of Fame.

After his basketball career, Carl entered the teaching and coaching profession, teaching school at Leopold, Zalma and Matthews and finishing up his career as the physical education instructor and principal at Bell City High School. While at Bell City, he led the 1981 boys basketball team to a third-place finish in the state. Then in 1996, he led the girls volleyball team to a Class 1 state title.

After his retirement, he served on the Advance City Board of Alderman before being elected the mayor of Advance, serving from April 12, 2010, to April 8, 2019.

He was a member of Bethel General Baptist Church, where he taught Sunday school for many years.

Carl is survived by his wife of 64 years, Carolyn (Shell) Ritter; a son, Carl (Angie) Ritter; grandson, Jared (Jaime) Ritter, and granddaughter, Kacie (Eric) Speight, all of Cape Girardeau; and a brother, Fred Ritter of Advance. He was blessed with seven great-grandchildren, Gwenyth, Pacey, Jerron, Blakley, Karter, Nolan and Boston.

He was preceded in death by his parents; a son, Stephen (Bubby) Ritter; and two brothers, Harold Winchester and Robert Ritter.

Visitation will be from 4 to 8 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 9, at Morgan Funeral Home in Advance.

Funeral will be at 11 a.m. Friday, Jan. 19, at the funeral home.