Frances Greenwood Rittman

“Our loved ones don’t make our lives,

Loving them does.

Death cannot take them away.”

Frances Greenwood Rittman (née Johnson), 71, of Clinton, passed away peacefully in the presence of her husband and daughter on September 9, 2021. The daughter of Squire F. Johnson and Wilma H. Johnson (née Stuart), Frances was born on November 19, 1949, in Albemarle, North Carolina at a time when her family had relocated from New Jersey. Frances moved back to New Jersey in 1953 to South River, then to Raritan where she graduated in 1967 from Bridgewater-Raritan High School West.

Frances was a devoted wife, a loving mother, a dedicated public servant, and a fervent activist for peace, justice, and mercy. Until her children were grown, she was active in St. Thomas Episcopal Church in Pittstown, and Church of the Holy Spirit in Lebanon. She was an avid proponent of libraries and intellectual freedom.

Before her library career, Frances worked in accountancy for twenty years at Blue Fish Clothing in Frenchtown and Whitehouse Station Family Medicine. She enjoyed most of all being a mother to her children, making crafts that brought joy, peace, and happiness to her home; teaching them kindness, and to love justice and mercy.

But libraries, research and books were her passion. She remembered visiting her first public library when she was four years old. She said to the person at the desk, “I want to be you when I grow up!” So, when her children were grown, she returned to college to complete her Bachelor of Arts in English Literature, graduating summa cum laude in 1999 from The College of New Jersey (Trenton State College). Frances went on to complete a Master of Library and Information Science degree, graduating with honors in 2002 from Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey in New Brunswick.

The dream of that four-year-old girl who visited her first library was finally realized fifty years later when she became reference and young adult librarian at Cranford Public Library. Her most gratifying achievement was to shape the lives of young people, instilling in them a love of reading and intellectual curiosity. She is remembered by them as one they could trust as a friend with honesty, acceptance, and encouragement. At home, she volunteered at the Clinton Library, and was a Friend of Hunterdon County Library. While away, she was known for visiting local libraries in cities and towns she visited.

Frances had a generous heart bigger than herself, giving of herself and her talents in service to others. She volunteered for Katrina recovery in New Orleans; aided recovery workers at St. Paul’s Chapel (Trinity Church) at Ground Zero after 911; built homes for Habitat for Humanity; volunteered for school band and sports programs; marched for peace, gun control, women’s rights, LBGTQ, and animal welfare; canvassed to get out the vote; promoted racial equality; and a clean planet. She was also an election poll worker, SAT proctor, and donated blood until she was told it was too risky to her health to give more.

But Frances was especially known for her kindness, her happy and friendly disposition, and for being everyone’s best friend. She was kind and charitable to everyone. It was an inside family joke that complete strangers would come up to her and start a conversation. Her most satisfying recreational activities were reading, gardening, biking, hiking the Appalachian Trail, road trips, camping, and attending Bruce Springsteen performances (of which she saw scores beginning in 1975 to 2018 when she shook his hand at his Broadway production).

Frances is predeceased by her parents Wilma H. Johnson (née Stuart) and Squire F. Johnson, Sr.; her brother, Squire F. Johnson, Jr.; her paternal grandparents, Francis G. Johnson, and Hannah W. Johnson; and her maternal grandparents Charles W.  Stuart and Mary E. Stuart. She is survived by her devoted husband, Robert J. Rittman of Clinton; her daughter, Betsy A. Housten of Brooklyn, NY; and her son and daughter-in-law, David M. Kocher and Rhonda L. Kocher of Escondido, CA. Also surviving are two sisters, Mary Stuart Sibilia of Raritan, and Anne Taylor Delin and her husband, Roger Delin of Flemington, and a brother, James Francis Johnson and his wife, Cynthia Johnson, of Joelton, TN. She also leaves behind a brother-in-law Gary J. Rittman of Milltown; numerous cousins, nieces, nephews, and friends; and two honorary grandchildren, Grace Kelsey, and Grant Kelsey of Clinton Township.

Our dear, precious Fran left this life too soon. We are heartbroken, but she will live in the hearts of those she loved.

A private memorial service will be held. Memorial donations may be made to Hunterdon Hospice of Flemington, NJ; Open Cupboard Food Pantry of Clinton, NJ; or St. Hubert’s Animal Welfare Center of North Branch, NJ.

Arrangements are under the care and direction of Wright & Ford Family Funeral Home and Cremation Services, 38 State Highway 31, Flemington, NJ.

You are encouraged to visit Frances’s permanent life celebration site at www.wrightfamily.com to light a candle of hope, leave messages of condolence, share words of comfort and recollection, and post photographs of her life.

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Wright & Ford, your local, family owned & operated “Life Celebration Home”

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