Teresa Ann Ritter

Teresa Ann Ritter, 67, of Morton Illinois, passed away on June 28, 2024, at Towers Nursing Home in Smithville, TX. Teresa was born on December 25th, 1956, to Sally Ann and Daniel Connell. Teresas second marriage was to Thomas Ritter, who her daughters adopted as their true father. She is preceded in death by her great-grandparents George and Lucille Simpson of Pekin, Il; her parents Debs and Sally Baldovin of Morton, Il; three sisters Monica (James) Plunk, Cara (Robert) Oertle, and Meloney Baldovin; and her granddaughter Markaylin Drisker of San Antonio, TX. Surviving are her two daughters Katie Lynn Telger (John) of Groveland, Il., and Brandie May Boswell (Marcus) of San Antonio, TX. Also surviving are her sister Deborah (Dale) Weeks of Mackinaw, Il., and her brothers Brian (Brenda) Baldovin of Morton, Il., Barry (Patricia) Baldovin of East Peoria, Il., and Brad (Jeri) Baldovin of Groveland, Il. Her surviving grandchildren are Jarik (Sylvia) Enlow of Belmont, PA., Aleah (Lorsus)Enlow of San Antonio, TX., Markessa Drisker of San Antonio, TX., Caymen Telger of St. Louis, MO., and Gabriel Telger of Groveland, Il.

Teresa had several professions in her life. She owned her own baby store in Connecticut where she would sell discounted baby clothes to the neediest mothers in the community. Sometimes, she would even give the clothes away for free. She did not care about making a profit from that business, as she felt that it was her duty to support her community and it made her heart feel good to know that she was helping others. She loved to help others! She also loved to take care of her grandparents in their older years and would help them with whatever task they needed with their real estate business, and in their personal lives. Her favorite job though was working for Caterpillar because she was thrilled that she could finally go shopping without having a budget, and she loved to shop!

Teresa loved a good joke and to laugh. She was especially happy when people would "bust her chops" and she would throw it right back at them, and then laugh some more. Teresa had her own set of rules in life and lived her life the way she wanted to. She was not afraid to speak her mind and she could care less if it offended anyone as she always said that honesty was the best policy, and her honesty was felt on more than one occasion. Teresa loved her family more than she loved anything else in life. She was proud of every one of them and would often express it. Teresa had the most beautiful smile and infectious giggle. She was a hugger, and she loved to hug hard. When you received a hug from her you knew it because it felt she was squeezing the life out of you; her hugs hurt, but you felt loved, and afterwards, you would giggle at how much love you actually felt.

In her spare time, she loved going for a country drive down to the Mackinaw River bottoms to watch the deer at sunset, while listening to Patsy Cline and Hank Williams and drinking a cold Michelob Ultra. She loved ice-cold beer, bologna sandwiches, and M&M's. Teresa will always be remembered for being a free spirited and barefoot loving warrior who survived so much in her time on this earth, and she will be missed by all who knew her and loved her as she was truly one-of-a-kind. Teresa loved reading medical books in her spare time and her final wish was to have her body donated to science so that she could help future medical students become professionals.

The family would like to thank Towers Nursing Home and Compassus Hospice, for the great care that was shown to Teresa. Especially Laura RN at Towers, and Christian RN with Compassus Hospice. The bi-weekly phone calls were appreciated and made the family feel close to her even though they were miles apart.

A celebration of life will be held in the future with family and closest friends.

In lieu of donations, please take a drive down to the Mackinaw River bottoms, listen to some of her favorite music, and drink a Michelob Ultra in her honor. She would love that!