Career
Ritchie resided next to The Gap, a cliff in Sydney, Australia, known for multiple suicide attempts. With such simple actions, Don has saved an extraordinary number of lives."
Ritchie explained his intervention in suicide attempts saying "you can"t just sit there and watch them". He enlisted into the Royal Australian Navy in 1939 as a Seaman during World World War II aboard HMAS Hobart and witnessed the unconditional surrender of the Japanese Imperial Forces in Tokyo Bay on 2 September 1945, officially ending World World War II in the Pacific.
After the war he was a life insurance salesman.
Ritchie died on 13 May 2012, age 86.