Upon his death, the New York Times described him as "a man of great ideas and ambition, and an executive of force and character.

[2] His parents were Marie Salome (Juliar), of Ostheim, France, and Heinrich Friedrich August Ringling (1826–1898), of Hanover, Germany.

He was responsible for bringing the talents of his brothers, and eventually blending the merged Barnum & Bailey shows, into solid performances.

[2] Ringling died suddenly, in 1911, at the home of John, located on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan, New York.

He was buried in Walnut Hill Cemetery in Baraboo, Wisconsin, next to his parents.

[1] Upon his death, he left trust money to his sister and numerous nieces and nephews.