Preston "Ritt" Rittenhouse
1929-2015

Preston O. "Ritt" Rittenhouse, 86, was born March 20, 1929 in Ohio. Ritt lived a full and accomplished life, passing peacefully in his home in Tucson, Arizona on July 12, 2015.

Ritt proudly served his country in the US Navy. He attended Catalina Junior High where he was the school's 1st All-City Athlete in Baseball and he attended Tucson High School from 1944-47, where he lettered in baseball. Ritt was the AAU Trampoline Champion for the State of Arizona in 1948. During his years at the University of Arizona, he participated in Baseball and Swimming, where in 1951, he was the Border Conference Diving Champion.

Ritt received his BAE in History in 1951 and his Masters in Education in 1958. Ritt coached the Catalina High School's Boys Gymnastics team, helping to secure six City Championships and four State Championships. He continued to teach and coach with TUSD until 1987. Ritt was inducted into the Pima County Sports Hall of Fame in 2003.

Throughout his life, Ritt challenged himself physically and achieved many personal accomplishments, including climbing Mt. Fuji ('57); The Matterhorn ('63); Mt. Whitney ('66); a 15 day canoe trip of the Hudson Bay ('75); a 4250-Mile Bicenntennial Bike Ride across the US ('76); rode the El Tour de Tucson ('83-'85); kayaked 10-days on the Rio Usamacinto in Guatemala ('94); paraglided in New Zealand ('98); completed a 1001 mile solo bike ride from Daytona, FL to Doyletown, PA; and so much more. Ritt bicycled over 68,200 miles in over 15 foreign countries.