In brief

Samuel R. Morrill

Samuel R. Morrill , owner of Edward Morrill & Son Rare Books , died Thursday at his home in Newton. He was 86 . Born in Worcester, Mr. Morrill graduated from the University of Wisconsin and Harvard Business School . He was an Army veteran of World War II and was stationed in Japan after the war. Upon his return in the late 1940s, Mr. Morrill and his father, Edward, a well-known collector of early Americana journals and manuscripts, launched the rare-book business, which had begun as a hobby in the 1930s . For many years, Mr. Morrill operated his business out of a retail store in Boston, but in recent years he moved the business to his home and focused on direct-mail orders via a catalog he published six times a year. He was a founding member of the Antiquarian Booksellers Association of America , begun in 1949 , and a member of the Newfoundland Club of America and the Schipperke Club . Mr. Morrill leaves his wife of 60 years , Marcia (Grass) ; three daughters, Carolyn of Newton , Diane Regan of Newton, and Susan of Cambridge ; and two granddaughters . Graveside services will be held at 10:45 a.m. today in Sharon Memorial Park in Sharon.

Thomas Ritzinger

Thomas W. Ritzinger , owner of Noonan , Ritzinger and Associates in Walpole , a firm representing manufacturers of plumbing supplies, died Thursday at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center . He was 73. Born in New Haven, Mr. Ritzinger was educated in Broward County, Fla., and attended the University of Rhode Island before being drafted. He served in the Army in Korea . Mr. Ritzinger was a longtime resident of Walpole and Block Island, R.I., and a member of the American Legion, the Block Island Double Ender Committee, and the American Society of Plumbing Engineers . Mr. Ritzinger leaves his wife of 50 years , E. Carole (Thorpe) of Plymouth ; six daughters, Lisa Mott of Lincoln, R.I., Kirsten Getler of Canton, Conn., Heidi Tallmadge of Wilton, Conn., Susan Southwood of Clinton, Conn., Mary Ellen Arruda of Jaffrey, N.H., and Holly of Medford; a brother, Louis of St. Petersburg, Fla.; a sister, Ellen Gilpin of Block Island; and 16 grandchildren. A funeral Mass will be said at 10 a.m. tomorrow in St. Bonaventure Church in Manomet. Burial will be private.