Ritchie Hugh Belser

Ritchie Hugh Belser, M.D., Orthopedic Surgeon and husband of the late Gale Johnson Belser passed away Friday, December 17, 2010 in Charleston, SC.

He was born Oct. 1, 1920 in Columbia, South Carolina the son of James Edwin and Susalee Mikell Belser.   

Attended Columbia public schools, graduated The Citadel, Class of 1942, Duke University Medical School in 1946 and served 2 years internship at Duke University Hospital. 

Dr. Belser entered armed services, serving 2 years in the Army Medical Corps.  He returned and completed his residency training in Orthopedic Surgery at Duke University Hospital in Durham, North Carolina.  His training included time at the Georgia Warm Springs Foundation in Warm Springs, Georgia and the North Carolina Crippled Children's Hospital in Gastonia, N.C.

Dr. Belser was certified by the American Board of Orthopedic Surgery in 1958.  He was a member of the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons, the Piedmont Orthopedic Association, American Medical Association, the Medical Association of South Carolina, South Carolina Medical Association and the Southern Medical Association.  He served as President of the South Carolina Orthopedic Association in 1975-76.

Dr. Belser was in private practice of orthopedic surgery in Charleston for thirty-one years.   During that time he served on the staff of Roper Hospital, St. Francis Hospital, Baker Hospital and on the Clinical Faculty of Orthopedic Surgery at the Medical University of South Carolina.  On 12 October 1984, he was awarded the state's Clinical Professor Emeritus of Orthopedic Surgery.  He was a consultant with the Veteran's Administration and on the Medical Staff of the Colleton Regional Hospital in Walterboro, South Carolina.

After retiring in June 1985, he moved to Edisto Island where he lived in the home built in 1875 by his grandfather, Townsend Mikell.  He was a member of Trinity Episcopal Church, Edisto Island.  In 2002 he moved to Bishop Gadsden Retirement Community on James Island.

He was predeceased by his wife of 49 years, Gale Johnson Belser.  Surviving are his three children: Carroll Belser Gauthreaux (Sidney) of Edisto Island and Ritchie Hugh Belser, Jr. (Pam) and Gale Belser Thompson (Bill) both of Charleston and four grandchildren.  He is also survived by his sister Sarah Belser Eggleston of Columbia.

A visitation will be held Sunday at 24 Limehouse Street from 4:00 to 6:00 pm.

A graveside service will be held at Trinity Episcopal Churchyard on Edisto Island 12:00 noon, Monday, December 20, 2010 

Memorials may be made to the Edisto Island Open Land Trust; P.O. Box 1, Edisto Island, S.C. 29438, Bishop Gadsden's Residents Assistance Fund c/o Bishop Gadsden, One Bishop Gadsden Way, Charleston, S.C. 29412, or the Ritchie H. and Gale J. Belser Fund for Giving c/o the Community Foundation, 90 Mary Street, Charleston, S.C. 29403 or to Odyssey Hospice, 5965 Core Road, Suite 603, North Charleston, SC 29406.

Arrangements by J. HENRY STUHR, INC., DOWNTOWN CHAPEL