Courtney Maxwell Rittgers

He was born in Cedar Rapids, Iowa December 7, 1937, to Forest S. Rittgers, Sr., and Gail Courtney Rittgers. His father, the Head Basketball and Track Coach at Coe College, was a U.S. Army Reserve Officer. At the start of World War II, his father was called to serve active duty, integrated into the Regular Army, and served for 30 years. Courtney and his older brother Forest S. Rittgers, Jr., became dependents destined to be U.S. Army Officers themselves. Courtney changed schools eleven times. After the war, the family served as part of the Occupation Forces in Japan.

Courtney, and his brother, attended an American school built in Kyoto, Japan. Later, when Courtney’s father became the senior military officer assigned to the British Crown Colony of Hong Kong, Courtney attended King George V School and received a General Certificate of Education from London University. Afterward, Courtney decided to try to obtain an appointment to West Point to begin a professional military career. He enlisted as a Private in the U.S. Army at Clark Air Force Base in Manila, Philippine Islands. Courtney was interviewed by a board of officers convened to nominate an Army candidate for West Point from the far east. He was not aware that he had been selected until the sixth week of his basic combat training with the 25th Infantry Division at Schofield Barracks in Honolulu, Hawaii. He was assigned to attend the United States Military Academy Preparatory School at Stewart Air Force Base near Newburg, New York to study for a year and compete for one of the Regular Army’s 25 appointments to West Point. He qualified for one of those appointments but gave it up when he received a Principal Appointment from Congressman Henry O. Talley, representing the 2nd District of Iowa, which includes Courtney’s hometown of Cedar Rapids.

Courtney entered West Point July 2, 1957, and graduated June 7, 1961, with a commission as a 2nd Lieutenant of Infantry. In the Spring of his senior year, Courtney was introduced by one of his classmates to Mateele Louise Blessing, a hostess for Trans World Airline (TWA) who was assigned to New York City, with a hometown of Kansas City, Missouri.

Following Infantry Officer Basic Course, Airborne and Ranger training, Courtney and Mateele were married the following February 10, 1961, in a military wedding in Kansas City, a month prior to Courtney’s first assignment, which took him unaccompanied, for a year, to South Korea. His next assignment was to the 82nd Airborne Division at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. Their son Trenton Maxwell Rittgers was born there before Courtney embarked upon his first combat assignment in the Dominican Republic with the 1st Battalion 505# Infantry, 82nd Airborne Division.

Subsequent assignments included two tours in Vietnam and in between, their daughter Rana Louise Rittgers, was born at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri. Courtney went on to tactical officer duty at West Point and graduate schooling at the University of Missouri’s School of Journalism where he received a Master’s Degree. He served as Executive Editor of Soldier’s Magazine, the Army’s premier public affairs publication, then went on to a year at the Pentagon before being selected as an aide-de-camp for General of the Army Omar N. Bradley, the Army’s last living 5-star general. Following the general’s death April 8, 1981, Courtney retired from active military service as a lieutenant colonel, February 28, 1982.

Courtney began a second career as an El Paso businessman: first as partial owner of a printing brokerage firm, then as station manager of an air paging company: Radio Relay Corporation. When communications technology changed to cellular devices from pagers, Courtney turned his attention to environmental engineering, specializing in managing hazardous waste on behalf of the maquiladora industry in Mexico with offices in both Ciudad Juarez and El Paso. He worked in related industries such as asbestos management and Environmental Site Assessment.

Courtney took advantage of an offer to return to his journalistic roots when asked to redesign and edit the newspaper at Siera Blanca, Texas. In accomplishing that, he hired staff, converted the existing paper into a 4-color publication that emphasized public information, and established a marketing and business plan. Following that, Courtney continued working in journalism, selling advertising for military directories, and publishing a magazine for physicians. His final business years were spent with the leading recruiting firm in El Paso, Dickason Personnel Services.

During Courtney’s business years, he was able to enjoy a full community life that featured membership in the El Paso Downtown Lions Club, the Col. Buster Hayden Chapter of the West Point Society of El Paso, Association of the U.S. Army (AUSA), Toastmasters International, National Association of the U.S. Army (NAUS), and friendships developed over his 40 plus years as an El Pasoan.

Courtney’s wife Mateele, an accomplished professional artist and collector of Mexican artifacts, became a politician. She served as President of the El Paso League of Women Voters, ran unsuccessfully for El Paso County Commissioner, but was elected to El Paso City Council and served one term. Courtney was heavily involved in all her campaign activities. She included him in most aspects of her political life, like managing their household while she travelled across Texas and Mexico on behalf of Governor Anne Richards in support of auto theft prevention.

Mateele and Courtney often visited their daughter Rana, a healthcare industry professional, her husband Patrick, a telecommunication professional, and their three grandchildren in Atlanta, Georgia. They also decided to travel abroad. They toured the Greek Islands and had other trips planned when Mateele contracted ovarian cancer. Courtney became her caregiver and was determined to help Mateele survive. In spite of her illness, she insisted upon continuing their overseas travel, during periods between chemotherapy treatments. They visited the imperial cities of Morocco and sailed the fjords of Norway. Their final trip was to Eastern Europe and cities along the Danube River, as they sailed to the Black Sea aboard an elegant, long river boat.

In February of 2011, to celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary, Mateele and Courtney took a trip along Historic Route 66 including a stay at The El Rancho Hotel in Gallup, New Mexico.

Then, Courtney became ill with liver disease. He applied for and was approved to be added to the liver transplant list. Mateele had become his caregiver, even though her cancer had progressed steadily. She flew with him to Atlanta where he was to receive a transplanted liver at Emory University Hospital, then returned to El Paso for continued cancer treatment. She soon learned that her condition had become terminal. Their son, Trenton, and his wife, Janay, cared for her, joined by hospice of El Paso, until her death a week after Courtney’s first liver transplant in Atlanta.

Courtney’s first liver failed after a month, and he was still high enough on the transplant list to be eligible to receive another. After extensive rehabilitation and with the support of his Atlanta family and his brother Forest, he returned to El Paso. He was a permanent Emory University post- transplant patient, so he returned there at least twice a year for follow-on treatment. He was inducted into the Emory Transplant Center Wall of Fame where his portrait hangs today.

Shortly after receiving his liver transplant, he joined a men’s group at North Point Community Church in Atlanta where he developed a close bond with several members of the church. Even after returning to El Paso, he continued to participate virtually in their weekly meetings for many years.

During his visits to Atlanta, he reconnected with several of his West Point classmates and enjoyed visiting them and participating in many reunions.

In the years that followed, Courtney devoted his life to All Saints Episcopal Church of El Paso, to his children’s families and his many friends.

Courtney was preceded in death by his parents, by his wife of 50 years, and by an infant son.

He is survived by his son, Trenton Maxwell Rittgers, Trenton’s wife, Janay Wilmot Rittgers, both of El Paso, Texas, his daughter, Rana Rittgers-Simonds, her husband Patrick Joseph Simonds, both of Milton, Georgia, his brother, Forest S. Rittgers. Jr., and Courtney’s grandchildren: Christopher Bohn, Andrea Bohn Crabb, Mairin Mateele Simonds, Maeve Marie Simonds, Rowan Patrick Simonds, and great-grandchildren Madison Bohn, Allison Bohn, Asher Crabb, Mathis Crabb, and Selah Crabb.

Courtney’s cremated remains will be interred in Arlington National Cemetery at a future date to be determined in the spring of 2027.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations in Corkie’s memory be sent to one of the following:

Emory Transplant Center- Mason Guest House for transplant recipients-1555 Shoup Ct., Decatur, GA 30033 (404-712-5110)

All Saints Episcopal Church- 3500 McRae Blvd, El Paso, Texas, 79925

Emory Healthcare "Center for Transplantation". Gifts can be made online, by mail or by phone in his honor or memory: Center for Transplantation – Emory Giving