Sylvester Ritter (1952 - 1998)

Born 13 Dec 1952 in Wadesboro, Anson, North Carolina, United States

Ancestors

Died 1 Jun 1998 at age 45 in Forest, Scott, Mississippi, United States

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Biography

Sylvester Ritter is Notable.

Sylvester Ritter was a college football player who became a professional wrestler known as the Junkyard Dog (or JYD).^[1]

Sylvester Ritter was born on December 13th, 1952 in Anson County, North Carolina. He was the son of John Wall and Bertha Ritter. He was largely raised by his grandmother Arzzie Lee Ritter in Wadesboro.^[2][3]

He was killed in a car crash in Forest, Mississippi on June 1st, 1998.^[4] He is buried in Westview Memorial Park in Russellville, Anson County, North Carolina.^[5]

Research Notes

• Mother on his Find A Grave page as of 6 Aug 2023 is likely incorrect. There are two people of the same name in the 1950 census, one in Wadesboro, Anson County, North Carolina (probably the correct record for Sylvester's mother) and one in Orangeburg, South Carolina (probably the person linked on Find A Grave as his mother).
• Father's obituary for creating his profile: "Train fatality..." The Greensboro Record [North Carolina], 17 May 1980, page A5, column 1; image copy, Newspapers.com (https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-greensboro-record/129522012/ : accessed 6 Aug 2023).

Sources

1. ↑ Wikipedia: Wikipedia:Junkyard Dog
2. ↑ Birth: "North Carolina, U.S., Birth Indexes, 1800-2000," database with images, Ancestry Sharing Link - (Ancestry Record 8783 #998781 : accessed 6 August 2023); citing Original data Register of Deeds. North Carolina Birth Indexes. Raleigh, North Carolina North Carolina State Archives. Microfilm, Volume 39, Page 803.
3. ↑ Biography: Greg Klein, The King of New Orleans: How the Junkyard Dog Became Professional Wrestling’s First Black Superstar, (Toronto, Canada: ECW Press, 2012), page 16.
4. ↑ Obituary: Ron Jordon, "Wrestling loses Junkyard Dog in fatal car crash," Winston-Salem Journal [North Carolina], 13 Jun 1998, TV Journal section, page 15; image copy, Newspapers.com (https://www.newspapers.com/article/winston-salem-journal/129521970/ : accessed 6 Aug 2023).
5. ↑ Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/18405/sylvester-ritter: accessed 06 August 2023), memorial page for Sylvester “Junk Yard Dog” Ritter (13 Dec 1952–1 Jun 1998), Find A Grave: Memorial #18405, citing Westview Memorial Park, Russellville, Anson County, North Carolina, USA; Maintained by Find a Grave.
   Note: Mother on his Find A Grave as of 6 Aug 2023 is probably the wrong person. See research notes.