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August 4, 2013
Services
Friends may visit with the family from 7-9 PM on Wednesday, August 7, 2013 at the Vander May Wayne Colonial Funeral Home, 567 Ratzer Road, Wayne. Funeral services will be held Thursday at 11 AM at the funeral home.
Nelson H. Rittenhouse age 91 of Wayne passed Sunday, August 4, 2013 at home.
Nelson H. Rittenhouse, age 91, of Wayne passed Sunday, August 4, 2013 at home. He was born in Union City, and raised in Leonia, NJ, Saugerties, NY, and West New York, NJ, where he graduated from Memorial High School in West New York with the Class of 1939. After high school, Nelson worked for Bell Labs in Manhattan and the Keuffel & Esser Co. in Hoboken before entering the United States Navy during WWII. While in the Navy, he was trained in Rangefinder Operator’s School and Advanced Fire Control School(graduating first in his class) before serving as a Fire Control-man. He served mostly in the South Pacific theatre of war and was awarded the Good Conduct Medal, the American Theatre Ribbon, the Asiatic – Pacific Ribbon, and the WWII Victory Medal.
After serving during WWII, Nelson went to the Stevens Institute of Technology, was a member of Sigma Nu fraternity, and earned his Bachelor of Science Degree in Mechanical Engineering with the Class of 1950. As a Navy Reservist he started working at the Walter Kidde Co. in Nutley and was called back into the Navy to serve for two years during the Korean War. He was stationed in Naples, Italy on a communications ship, where he was joined by his wife.
After his service during the Korean War he returned to the Walter Kidde Co. in Nutley, performed cutting edge aerospace research and development, then worked for Union Carbide Corporation in Sterling Forest, New York before retiring from the Cintichem Corporation in Sterling Forest, New York in 1985, inventing the machinery needed to manufacture and distribute radioactive pharmaceuticals.
While serving in the Navy during WWII, Nelson received a letter from his mother with a newspaper clipping. The clipping announced the engagement of his high school pal to a US Air Force pilot. This announcement was the push that the shy Nelson needed to contact and convince his-to-be sweetheart Maida Kopp to call off her engagement and wait for him. They married on June 23, 1948 at the Trinity Evangelical Church in North Bergen and honeymooned at Lake Minnewaska, New York. They had a loving and devoted marriage of fifty-nine years before Maida’s passing in 2007. When writing the obituary for his wife in 2007, he is quoted as saying, “I married the right lady.”
Nelson is best described as a disciplined, extremely intelligent problem solver. He could fix just about anything and was often making all kinds of gizmos and gadgets. Nelson was heartbroken when he couldn’t make it into his home workshop anymore. He was a great teacher with unending patience. He was thoughtful, organized, generous, and always dressed sharply. A master craftsman with both wood and metal, he was a member of the American Woodcarving School in Wayne. He handcrafted a desk for each of his grandchildren, which will serve as a reminder of his love for years to come. He also donated some of his work to the Peters Valley School of Craft in Layton, NJ. He was a member of the NJ Audubon Society and enjoyed birding and photography.
Nelson was the loving husband of the late Maida (Kopp) Rittenhouse (2007); devoted father of Judson Rittenhouse and his wife Patti of Stockholm, and Andrea Andersen and her husband Robert of Wayne; cherished grandfather of Erica, Valerie, and Christopher Andersen, and Andrew Rittenhouse; dear brother of the late Richard Lapham.
In lieu of flowers, memorial donations to the New Jersey Audubon Society would be appreciated.
If you would like to send a private condolence directly to the family use this condolence section.
Friends may visit with the family from 7-9 PM on Wednesday, August 7, 2013 at the Vander May Wayne Colonial Funeral Home, 567 Ratzer Road, Wayne. Funeral services will be held Thursday at 11 AM at the funeral home.
August 4, 2013
Services
Friends may visit with the family from 7-9 PM on Wednesday, August 7, 2013 at the Vander May Wayne Colonial Funeral Home, 567 Ratzer Road, Wayne. Funeral services will be held Thursday at 11 AM at the funeral home.
Nelson H. Rittenhouse age 91 of Wayne passed Sunday, August 4, 2013 at home.
Nelson H. Rittenhouse, age 91, of Wayne passed Sunday, August 4, 2013 at home. He was born in Union City, and raised in Leonia, NJ, Saugerties, NY, and West New York, NJ, where he graduated from Memorial High School in West New York with the Class of 1939. After high school, Nelson worked for Bell Labs in Manhattan and the Keuffel & Esser Co. in Hoboken before entering the United States Navy during WWII. While in the Navy, he was trained in Rangefinder Operator’s School and Advanced Fire Control School(graduating first in his class) before serving as a Fire Control-man. He served mostly in the South Pacific theatre of war and was awarded the Good Conduct Medal, the American Theatre Ribbon, the Asiatic – Pacific Ribbon, and the WWII Victory Medal.
After serving during WWII, Nelson went to the Stevens Institute of Technology, was a member of Sigma Nu fraternity, and earned his Bachelor of Science Degree in Mechanical Engineering with the Class of 1950. As a Navy Reservist he started working at the Walter Kidde Co. in Nutley and was called back into the Navy to serve for two years during the Korean War. He was stationed in Naples, Italy on a communications ship, where he was joined by his wife.
After his service during the Korean War he returned to the Walter Kidde Co. in Nutley, performed cutting edge aerospace research and development, then worked for Union Carbide Corporation in Sterling Forest, New York before retiring from the Cintichem Corporation in Sterling Forest, New York in 1985, inventing the machinery needed to manufacture and distribute radioactive pharmaceuticals.
While serving in the Navy during WWII, Nelson received a letter from his mother with a newspaper clipping. The clipping announced the engagement of his high school pal to a US Air Force pilot. This announcement was the push that the shy Nelson needed to contact and convince his-to-be sweetheart Maida Kopp to call off her engagement and wait for him. They married on June 23, 1948 at the Trinity Evangelical Church in North Bergen and honeymooned at Lake Minnewaska, New York. They had a loving and devoted marriage of fifty-nine years before Maida’s passing in 2007. When writing the obituary for his wife in 2007, he is quoted as saying, “I married the right lady.”
Nelson is best described as a disciplined, extremely intelligent problem solver. He could fix just about anything and was often making all kinds of gizmos and gadgets. Nelson was heartbroken when he couldn’t make it into his home workshop anymore. He was a great teacher with unending patience. He was thoughtful, organized, generous, and always dressed sharply. A master craftsman with both wood and metal, he was a member of the American Woodcarving School in Wayne. He handcrafted a desk for each of his grandchildren, which will serve as a reminder of his love for years to come. He also donated some of his work to the Peters Valley School of Craft in Layton, NJ. He was a member of the NJ Audubon Society and enjoyed birding and photography.
Nelson was the loving husband of the late Maida (Kopp) Rittenhouse (2007); devoted father of Judson Rittenhouse and his wife Patti of Stockholm, and Andrea Andersen and her husband Robert of Wayne; cherished grandfather of Erica, Valerie, and Christopher Andersen, and Andrew Rittenhouse; dear brother of the late Richard Lapham.
In lieu of flowers, memorial donations to the New Jersey Audubon Society would be appreciated.
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