Tilda King

Tilda Ritman King passed away at the Collington continuing care community in Bowie, Maryland, on November 18, 2014. Tilda was born in Chicago, IL, on October 21, 1926, and moved with her family to Glen, Michigan, when she was three years old. There, her father, George Ritman, and mother, Anna, ran a farm and antique and craft shop. She attended high school in South Haven Michigan, college at the University of Michigan, and moved as a young woman to Chicago, where she pursued a career in advertising and publishing. In Chicago, she met and married Sam King. They had two sons, David and Andrew. In 1977 Tilda and her family moved to Kalamazoo, Michigan, where Sam and Tilda successfully ran the Giftloft for many decades until they sold the store. In Kalamazoo, Tilda was active in several neighborhood and civic organizations and was a member of Temple B'nai Israel. She was an avid supporter of the Kalamazoo Institute of Arts, and contributed several works of art to the museum. Tilda and Sam spent time in the summers at their Lake Michigan beach cottage in South Haven, and enjoyed visiting the numerous art galleries scattered along the lake shore between South Haven and Saugatuck. After Sam passed away in 2010, Tilda spent more time visiting relatives and traveling, notably to Hawaii, Sanibel Island Florida, Baltimore, and Philadelphia. In 2012 Tilda moved to a continuing care community in Bowie, Maryland, just outside of Washington, DC, to be closer to her son and daughter-in-law. There, she developed many new friendships and traveled throughout the region exploring restaurants and museums in Washington, Baltimore, Annapolis, and around the Chesapeake Bay. Tilda is survived by her son David, daughter-in-law Robin Yabroff, niece Susan Zweig, and nephew Larry King. A memorial service will be held in Kalamazoo later in the year, with details to be announced.