Joseph P. Ridge

Joseph P. Ridge

Former resident, Joseph P. Ridge, left this world in Seattle on May 3, 2026. He was born in the family farmhouse in Red Lake Falls, Minnesota on January 29, 1936, the only son of Patrick and Josephine Linnertz Ridge.

Our parents called him Joe-Joe throughout their lives.

He attended St. Peter’s Grade School and High School, leaving high school to work on the section gang of the B. A. & P. Railroad. He loved trains and liked to travel by train occasionally.  Joe-Joe and Dolores traveled many times, always with pleasure. He left Anaconda when the railroad began to down-size and he wasn’t listed on the “board” often enough. He was never out of a job, rising to foreman on the wharf. He studied to obtain his high school diploma.

He is survived by sons Joseph and Julia Ridge, John and Leslie Ridge, daughter Colleen and Collin Hards. Much loved grandchildren and great-grandchildren. A sister, Rose Nyman and niece Susan Mavrinac. Many nephews and nieces from the Ridge, Linnertz and Morris families. One cousin survives, Larry Schafer, the numerous boisterous cousins are gone.

He was predeceased by his wife Dolores Morris Ridge, his parents and sisters Ann Paull, Agnes Bolkovatz and Mary Jo Kohler.

Joe-Joe was a humble, caring and prayerful man, always willing to serve. He had a high IQ and a photographic memory, inheriting the Linnertz family love of card games and cribbage. A great story-teller, he loved to share stories of his summers on the Linnertz farm in Minnesota as a boy. He was an ardent fly fisherman, always favoring the Big Hole Valley,

Joe-Joe is gone and I am alone, the last of our family.

I couldn’t have wished for a better brother.

Soar with the eagles Joe-Joe, you are free.

Love, Rose