Dwight W. Rittenhouse

– Dwight (Dykes) Rittenhouse passed away on April 28, 2015, at the age of 94. He was born July 3, 1920, in Deer Lodge to Dwight and Sara Rittenhouse. He graduated from Powell County High School where one of his favorite memories was being a starter on the 1937 State Champion basketball team. It is also where he met the love of his life, Betty (deceased), and to whom he was married for 72 years. Dwight thoroughly enjoyed growing up in Deer Lodge and tells many stories about hunting, fishing and hiking adventures in his youth.

After working at the Deer Lodge Safeway for several years, Dwight hired on as a fireman on the Milwaukee Railroad following in his dad and father-in-laws' footsteps who also retired from the Milwaukee Railroad. Dwight was drafted into the Army in 1941. He was part of the occupation army after the atom bomb was dropped in Japan.

After being discharged in 1945 he returned to working on the Milwaukee Railroad becoming a locomotive engineer. Dwight and Betty had two children, a daughter Terry Jo, born while Dwight was in the Army and a son, David, who was born while Dwight was fishing up the Blackfoot River near Ovando. He and his family loved the outdoors which probably came from Dwight's experiences as a child and he took his wife (Betty) camping into the Dempsey Basin area near Deer Lodge for their honeymoon. Pictures from this trip have been featured in The Way We Were section of the Missoulian along with pictures of Dwight serving as a fireman on the last Milwaukee passenger train prior to the Milwaukee Road shutting down in 1980. Dwight was thrilled to see the Hiawatha bike path established on the railroad right of way and made several road trips over the driveable portion of that route with family and friends.

Dwight moved his family to Missoula in 1957. He worked for the railroad for over 40 years and could still tell stories about his many adventures including derailments and the filming of the movie Timberjack up the Blackfoot River where he transported loads from near Clearwater Crossing to the Bonner Mill. The Blackfoot River was always a favorite family recreation area with a family hunting cabin near Lincoln and fishing the river above McNamara's Landing.

After his retirement Dwight and Betty enjoyed extensive travel to visit family and relatives. They always tried to take an anniversary trip in April where they invariably ran into a late storm but it never dampened their enthusiasm to do it again. They also were active in the First Presbyterian Church, helped with Meals and Wheels and enjoyed square dancing. Dwight and Betty moved to the Village Senior Residence in 2008.

He will always be remembered for the wide circle of friends he enjoyed and enduring love of family. Survivers include a daughter, Terry Jo Sather from the Spokane Valley; and a son, Dave Rittenhouse (Suz) from Polson. He had three grandchildren, Allen Sather (Kim), Barry Sather (Stephanie) and Paula Watkins. His great-grandchildren include Kyra Lee Droppers (Michael), Amanda King, Andrew King, Chistopher Sather, Austin Sather, Hanna Watkins, Sydney Sather and Jackson Sather all from the Spokane area. His great-great-granddaughter Delaney Kay Droppers recently turned 3 years old. He is also survived by a niece, Janet Locke from California and other Rittenhouse relatives in Texas and Iowa.

A celebration of life gathering will be held at 4 p.m. in the Fellowship Hall of the First Presbyterian Church on Saturday, May 30. Memorial donations can be made to the First Presbyterian Church of Missoula or the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation. The family wishes a special thanks to friends Tom Finch, Wes Pyeatt and Doug Fraser of Missoula for their special friendship and help to our Dad along with Hospice of Missoula and the staff at the Village Senior Residence.
Read Dwight Rittenhouse's Obituary and Guestbook on www.missoulafuneralhomes.com.