John D. Rittenhouse

John Rittenhouse was born August 1, 1940 in Flint, Michigan, with the birth name of Loren Dexter Rittenhouse. He was the only child between Edna Frances Reed, and David Martin Rittenhouse, and the youngest of six children born of Edna Frances Reed. He would pass on June 19, 2017, after a long battle with emphysema, at the age of 76.

Being the product of a single mother household at the end of WWII, he grew up in foster care and orphanages from about the age of 3 up until about the age of 12 years old.

John had a passion to write, and ended up going to college for journalism, where he gained employment in the Los Angeles, Calif area with local newspapers. There he met Carol Sue Kidwell, and the two were wed in January 1965. Together they had three children, Keith, Michelle, and Jon. They would eventually divorce in 1977.

While working for Bekins Records & Storage, he went back to school and studied law. He graduated from Western University, now known as Thomas Jefferson University, with his BA. His replacement at Bekins was Linda Joan Zakarian (nee Burns), and she would later become his 2nd wife in 1985.

John practiced in various fields of law including, but not limited to: criminal, family, prisoner rights, entertainment, and bankruptcy. He owned his own bankruptcy legal center, American Bankruptcy Center, and retired in 2001.

Linda would go to pass in 2012, leaving John a widower. John then focused his retirement around his family, and his passion towards writing about his family ancestry, and published his first book in 2015, “Rittenhouse: The Saga of an American Family”. It would be the first installment of a trilogy, and John passed after completing his second book, which is should be published by the end of 2017, or spring 2018.

He leaves behind his three children: Keith Rittenhouse, Michelle Rittenhouse-Lasalle (Jeffrey Lasalle), and Jon Rittenhouse; his step-son, Greg Kalte (Michelle Kalte); grandchildren CJ, Raymond, Shanna, Cassidy Cheyenne, Rob, Glen, Nate, and Maranda; as well as 4 great grandchildren, with the 5th great grandchild expected to be born August 28, 2017.

John was preceded in death by his parents, his sisters and brothers: Viola Verguson, Ardith Verguson, Helen Verguson, Don Cole, and Robert (Bob) Cole, his wife, Linda Rittenhouse, and his step-daughter, Michelle Stahle.