Joe Rantz

Joseph Harry Rantz (March 31, 1914 – September 10, 2007) was an American rower who won Olympic gold in the men's eight at the 1936 Summer Olympics.[1]

Joe Rantz
Medal record
Men's rowing
Representing the  United States
Gold medal – first place 1936 BerlinMen's eight
Joe Rantz's Gold Medal from the 1936 Berlin Summer Olympics. Currently on display at the Conibear Shell house University of Washington campus courtesy of the Rantz family.

Early life

Born in Spokane, Washington, Joe Rantz had a harsh childhood in Boulder City, Idaho and later Sequim, Washington. His mother Nellie Maxwell (1881–1918) died from throat cancer when Rantz was just four.[2] His father Harry Rantz (1880–1966) remarried in 1921 but Rantz did not connect well with his stepmother Thula LaFollete (1897–1935) who struggled to raise Rantz and her four younger natural children.[2] From age 15 Rantz reared himself in an unfinished house abandoned by his father and stepmother and put himself through high school. He gained admission to the University of Washington.[2]

Rowing and later career

Rantz rowed in the University of Washington senior varsity eights which won US national Intercollegiate Rowing Association titles in 1936 and 1937 as well as the victorious sophomore eight of 1935 and freshman eight of 1934.[2][3] Rantz is the central character in the non-fiction book The Boys in the Boat, which inspired the PBS documentary American Experience: The Boys of '36. Both chronicle his struggles through life in his early years, culminating with his Olympic gold medal win from the seven seat of the US men's eight at Berlin in 1936.[2]

Rantz earned a chemical engineering degree from the University and worked for Boeing following his retirement from rowing. He died of congestive heart failure in Redmond, Washington, at age 93.[1][2]

References
  1. Smith, Craig (September 12, 2007). "Undefeated UW rowers Rantz earned gold". The Seattle Times.
  2. Brown, Daniel James (2013). The Boys In The Boat, Viking / Penguin Group, New York. ISBN 978-0-670-02581-7.
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