By Kaitlin Durbin
The Gazette
FALCON, Colo. — Daryl Ritz spent more than half his life with the Colorado Springs Fire Department, and his fellow firefighters were more than co-workers - they were family.
The family mourned his death Tuesday after Ritz, 58, was found dead in what the El Paso County Sheriff’s Office deemed a homicide.
“As the word got around, we all have heavy hearts,” said Randy Royal, the Fire Department’s acting deputy chief of support services.
Royal and Ritz worked together for several years before he retired about three years ago after spending much of his 33 years with the department as a driver-engineer on the hazardous materials team.
Ritz loved cars, and once helped Royal’s son piece together a classic.
“My youngest son and I were in his garage and built a ’68 Mustang, basically from the ground up,” Royal said. “He didn’t have to do it, but he dedicated his time to my son to help build that car.”
Royal said working on the car is one of his favorite memories with Ritz, although he also admired Ritz’s work with the Children’s Hospital Burn Unit. Ritz was known for community service and had a soft spot for children, according to Gazette archives. He helped raise money for the Children’s Hospital Burn Unit and he collected donations from firefighters to buy shopping carts full of toys for children during a toy drive.
Ritz also worked for years on the Hot Times Kool Cars car show, building hot rods to be raffled off, the Fire Department said Tuesday. The money, more than $1 million, went to burn treatment for children.
Ritz joined the department in 1980, became a driver-engineer in 1986 and retired in 2013.
“He was one of those guys that, no matter what the call was, when he went out the door he was out to serve people in our community,” Royal said.
Ritz’s death is the second homicide handled by the El Paso County Sheriff’s Office and the sixth reported in the county since April 15.
He was found dead Tuesday on a property off Judge Orr Road, the sheriff’s office said. His cause of death was not released, pending a toxicology report, said spokeswoman Jackie Kirby.
Ritz was identified as a missing person about 10:15 p.m. Monday, Kirby said. The call led deputies to a property on Judge Orr Road, where a co-worker and friend said they found Ritz’s work truck, Kirby said.
Ritz’s body was found in a search, Kirby said. Details about Ritz’s death have not been released.
Ritz’s sister, Phyllis Crumb of New Albany, Ga., said his body was found at 12825 Judge Orr Road. Her parents, Donald and Nyla Ritz, own the property and used to run a well and wastewater service there called Greater West Distributors, Crumb said.
The parents moved to Georgia in 2015 before Donald, a former Army lieutenant colonel, died in December, but the property remains in their name, county records show.
The “heinous” and “unfathomable crime,” has left family reeling, Crumb said. Ritz leaves behind a wife, two daughters and four grandchildren, she said.
“To just kill him? We want to know why,” Crumb said. “He was a great person. He was my baby brother and I want him back.”
Judge Orr Road, near Falcon, is expected to remain closed between Eastonville Road and U.S. 24 until Wednesday while the investigation continues, Kirby said.