Good bye Tex and first egg off spring

Our neighbor Merlin 'Tex' Ritter passed away at 3:13 pm on Saturday 3 March at 95. He and his wife Mary raised 5 kids in this house. They were the original owners since 1963. Their hoes was the last house on Donald and they used to walk up the valley to cut their own christmas trees. He was a milk man and am ltd driver.

He was a great repairer of all things, often went beyond his physical abilities. I remember having to threaten to cut up his ladder as he headed up the six foot wooden ladder that he converted into an 8 foot ladder with a saw and a tow chain to strap his frail ~90 year old body to the tree as he cut it down. Let's say he didn't get very far.

I was in the front yard on this beautiful 60 degree sunny day.

This is the first time his house has been empty since we've lived here and likely a lot longer than the 8 years we've been here. His wife Mary passed last spring/summer.