Paul Ritterhoff, a retired co-owner of a Baltimore hardware and plumbing supply store who was a longtime Baltimore Streetcar Museum member and volunteer, died Tuesday of kidney failure at Stella Maris Hospice. He was 91.
The son of Charles J. Ritterhoff, a hardware and plumbing supply store owner, and Carrie R. Ritterhoff, a homemaker, Paul Ritterhoff was born in Baltimore and raised on Denison Street in Ashburton.
A 1940 graduate of Polytechnic Institute, Mr. Ritterhoff earned a bachelor's degree in engineering in 1944 from the Johns Hopkins University.
During World War II, Mr. Ritterhoff served stateside with the Army's Counterintelligence Corps, and "details of his service are shrouded in mystery," said a son, Paul M. Ritterhoff of Lutherville.
After the death of his father in 1952, Mr. Ritterhoff and his brother, Charles Ritterhoff, took over as co-owners of E. Ritterhoff and Sons, a retail hardware and plumbing supply store at Baltimore Street and Central Avenue that had been established by their grandfather Ernest Ritterhoff in 1873.
"It specialized in hardware, plumbing supplies, sheet metal work and chair caning supplies," Paul Ritterhoff said. "It was a classic old-time hardware store with glass, sheet metal and pipe cut to order and nails in bins that were weighed out on an ancient balancing scale. The store served generations of Baltimoreans and closed in 2000 after 127 years of being in business."
Mr. Ritterhoff's interest in streetcars and steam engines began in childhood.
"As a kid, he wanted to be a streetcar motorman, and when he was 16, in 1939, took an excursion to Alaska looking for and riding steam engines and trains," his son said. "He was pretty ecumenical when it came to steam locomotives. He liked them all."
At the Baltimore Streetcar Museum on Falls Road, which he joined in 1982, Mr. Ritterhoff realized his lifelong dream of becoming a motorman and learning how to operate streetcars. He brought his considerable skills in pattern-making and sheet metal-working to streetcar restoration projects.
"Paul was a really talented metal worker and machinist. He could make anything," said John O'Neill, longtime Baltimore Streetcar Museum president, who lives in Jarrettsville.
Mr. Ritterhoff brought his expertise to the restoration of PCC car No. 7003 that had operated in El Paso, Texas, and San Diego, Calif., before it was retired and converted into an office in New Mexico.
In 2002, museum members purchased the 1936 streetcar and had in trucked across the country to the Falls Road facility.
"He made all of what we call aluminum ice tray lighting fixtures. It was a painstakingly difficult job, and when they're installed, they will be a fitting tribute to Paul," said Mr. O'Neill. "He was a true craftsman, and he could do many other things like making castings, which is a lost art."
"He had taken courses in pattern-making at Poly and often referred to his notebooks as he worked on projects," his son said.
In addition to working in the museum's shop, Mr. Ritterhoff enjoyed operating historic streetcars from its collection.
"He and I were in the same conductor-motorman training class in 1988 — two of three students total," said Andrew S. Blumberg, a Rodgers Forge resident who is the streetcar museum's director of public relations and a longtime member. "Upon 'graduating,' Paul joked we'd see each other at 'reunions.' "
"If I needed a replacement motorman when someone couldn't make it, all I had to do was call Paul and he always came down," said Mr. O'Neill. "He was always willing to jump in and help. He was a very friendly guy, and people enjoyed being around him. He also knew lots of Baltimore history."
For years before moving to Towson in 1961, Mr. Ritterhoff lived in Northwood, where he constructed a streetcar layout. "He even made and soldered the overhead catenary," his son said.
In 2011, museum members honored Mr. Ritterhoff's years of work with a luncheon.
"Paul gave all attendees a gift — a small notebook, circa 1920s, produced by his grandfather, promoting his hardware store at 1159 E. Baltimore St.," Mr. Blumberg recalled. "On the inside front and inside back covers were printed schedules of Baltimore streetcar lines. It was a generous and thoughtful gesture that was very characteristic of Paul."
Mr. Ritterhoff collected standard-gauge Lionel trains and railroad books.
He was a Mason and a member of the Kedron Lodge and Corinthian Lodge.
A memorial service will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday at Divinity Lutheran Church, 1220 Providence Road, Towson.
In addition to his son, Mr. Ritterhoff is survived by his wife of 63 years, the former Harriet Pollard; another son, Thomas Ritterhoff of Lutherville; two daughters, Claire Ritterhoff of Rodgers Forge and Gretchen LeKites of Fallston; a brother, John Ritterhoff of Timonium; and six grandchildren.