June 12, 2000 - Debbie Ritter (July 4, 1952 - June 12, 2000) wife of Larry, dies suddenly and unexpectedly as well. The company is continued by Marcy.

August 15, 2000 - RCI Software is closed by the Ritter Estate.

September 27, 2000 - Man's Best Friend Software, Inc. of Oak Forest, IL. acquires the assets of RCI Software. Sales and support of the programs are resumed immediately.

August, 2001 - Work Commences on CompuPed™ Millennium, the long-awaited Windows version of the program.

In Memory of Larry and Debbie Ritter

Robert Lawrence (Larry) Ritter and Deborah J. Ritter met in mid July of 1975 and were married 6 weeks later, on September 4 in Missoula, Montana. Deb had a tortie and white cat named Deana Durbin, named for the silent film actress. The cat was the wild and would only let Debbie close to her. Debbie always had some kind of kitty around her in every place that she lived in Missoula. Debbie gave Deana to a long time friend Dave Mitchell when she and Larry left Missoula in the fall of 1976.

Larry once wrote about his 'younger days' saying, "when I was younger I built and raced dragsters, I was a swimming instructor and skiing instructor, a hard rock miner, a timber faller, a cabinet maker, and a home building contractor. Although my private pilot's license is no longer valid do to lack of hours flying lately, I still have valid PADI certification for scuba diving, and . . . I do have a certain amount of experience with sailing boats and ocean navigation."

Debbie and Larry traveled after their marriage and saw various parts of the world and the US. They lived "back east" for a while and eventually landed in Loveland, Colorado around 1984. Larry became involved with woodworking, would spend a lot of time working on each project just to make sure all of the little things were just right. This was later reflected in his perfectionist work with the software company he developed (RCI Software) producing a pedigree program (CompuPed) and a cat show program (CompuShow).

In the late 1970’s Debbie and Larry began raising Somali cats, and had the first CFA female Grand Champion, Bitterroot (Rooter) as well as many other Grands and Regional Winners including Tarkio, the 1989 Best Somali Premier in the country. It was their love of the cats and Larry’s ability with the computer which formed the business foundation. Over the years both Debbie and Larry decided to become CFA judges. They were the founding members of Cowboy Country Cat Fanciers and Front Range Cat Fanciers and both followed the rigors of entering the judging program by entry clerking, ring clerking and even master clerking as well as becoming Master Clerk Instructors. First Larry entered the judging program and he was followed shortly by Debbie.

Not long after becoming a shorthair judge Larry began having severe back problems due to an injury he had sustained much earlier in his life. Larry was diagnosed with Multiple Myeloma in October of 1997. He resigned from the judging program to stay home and tend to the business. Debbie continued along the route and became an approved all breed judge in near record time. To watch Debbie handle the cats was proof positive of her love for animals.

Larry fought off his cancer, going through radiation and chemotherapy both. The rarity of his illness in a relatively young man allowed him to participate in clinical trials for new treatments and as usual Larry threw himself in to learning all he could about cancer and it's treatment. Before he died he was quite and expert and truly only regretted that his hair was returning totally grey! Larry was in total remission when he died December 26, 1999 of an anurism, and not his cancer.

Debbie took Larry's loss very hard. It was difficult for her after his death and her friends rallied to help her both professionally and personally. She was a very good friend to many people and admired by even more, including Larry who often said that she had such a way with the cats when she judged. He was very proud of her rising star in the show ring as a judge.

Larry and Debbie are both missed by many people. They live on though in many hearts.

A Lawrence and M Heathman