Articles have been edited by Suzanne Forte for brevity and to avoid mention of living individuals.

Cleo Booth Ritchie passed away December 22, 1977

Mrs. Cleo booth Ritchie, 85, was born in Loganville in 1891.  In 1908 she left Loganville and was away for 55 years.  Returning to Loganville in 1963, she was much amazed at the many changes which had taken place.

"Three generations grew up while I was away," she says.  "it has ceased to be a village and had become a real town.  All the churches had separated and had their own services.  When I was small we attended all the churches and were just like one big family."

Mrs. Ritchie was born in the Faustberg home in Loganville, which burned several years ago.  Her great grandfather, James Booth, came from Cork, Ireland and married Sarah Whitehead.  They lived at Statham.  Her grandfather, Jack Booth, moved to Loganville just before the Civil War.  Her parents were the late Benjamin Franklin Booth and Ida Magnolia (Smith) Booth.

"My dad ran a sawmill for years" she muses.  "He ran it until Franklin Roosevelt put all the small businesses on the shelf".

Mrs. Ritchie's parents raised five children, but she and her sister, Nell Garrett of Atlanta are the only ones living now.  They had a happy childhood in Loganville.

"I can remember when I was two ears old.  I spent a lot of time with my aunt n and uncle.  Charlie and Olivia (Booth) George.  They ran the Loganville Hotel until about 1903 when they sold it to Cicero and Mattie Lou Bailey who ran it till about 1919," she says.

Nursing has been the most important thing in Mrs. Ritchie's life.  When she left Loganville she went to the school of nursing at Piedmont College in 1912 and graduated in 1915.  She did private duty nursing in 1915, 1916 and nursed at LaGrange Hospital in 1917.

Later, she went overseas with the Emory Unit which was stationed in France at Base Hospital 41.  She return to the United States in 1919.

Next, she went into the United States Public Health Service and served in the Panama Canal for two years and in Chile for three years.

While in Chile, se met her husband, the late William Wood Ritchie, a native of Dundee, Scotland.  They lived in Chile for over twenty years and raised two children.

In 1942 Mrs. Ritchie returned to the United States and went to work for the Department of Hospitals for the city of New York.  She held this position until 1950 when she fell and fractured a hip.

"That was the end of my regular nursing" she says.  "It took me about three years to learn to walk again.  Even though I haven't nursed in years, I am still registered in New York and Georgia."

In 1953 she bought a home in Atlanta and lived there until 1963 when she returned to Loganville.

"I just wanted to move back where I started from," she says.  "I like living in Loganville and I have gladly accepted the friendship of those who try to be my friend. "