Patricia Phillips Ritter, 83, of Kennebunk, Maine, a former journalist and wife of Tracy native Norman Ritter, died Monday, Aug. 20, after a long illness.

Born July 29, 1929, in Baltimore, she earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1951 from Wheaton College in Norton, Mass.

Mrs. Ritter, who was called Patsy, was a reporter for The Baltimore Evening Sun before joining the staff of Life magazine in New York City. At Life, she was a science reporter and covered Life Goes to A Party stories.

She and Mr. Ritter, a fellow Life reporter, were married in 1958. They lived in Washington, D.C., Atlanta and Chappaqua, N.Y., before moving to Kennebunk.

While raising her two children, Mrs. Ritter was a PTA volunteer in Chappaqua, a member of the Junior League and a teacher of remedial reading in White Plains, N.Y.

Survivors include her husband, Norman Ritter of Kennebunk; a daughter, Cynthia Ritter of Keene, N.H.; a son, Gordon Ritter of San Francisco; a brother, Brian Phillips of Kennebunk; and six grandchildren.

The family prefers memorial contributions in Mrs. Ritter’s name be made to the Hospice of Southern Maine, 180 U.S. Route 1, Scarborough, ME 04074.