Obituary: Frederick J. Reitter

Anton Community Newspapers • 132 East 2nd Street • Mineola, NY 11501 • Phone: 516-747-8282 • FAX: 516-742-5867

Obituary: Frederick J. Reitter

Friday, 27 May 2011 00:00

Frederick J. Reitter

January 16, 1919 – May 21, 2011

Frederick J. Reitter, 92, passed away at his home in Venice, FL, in the afternoon of May 21, 2011. A long-term resident of Manhasset, Mr. Reitter was born in Brooklyn, on Jan. 16, 1919.

He was preceded in death by his wife of 62 years, Ruth Reitter, in 2010. Survivors include his daughters, Louise Thompson of Dayton, OH, and her husband John Thompson and their children, Jennifer, Christopher, Sarah and Rachel; Lynn Keffer of Chatham, NJ, and her husband Thomas Keffer and their children, Philip and Meredith; Lisa Finkbeiner of Port Washington and her husband Kurt Finkbeiner and their children, Carl and John; and five great-grandchildren.

Mr. Reitter retired from Exxon, formerly Standard Oil of New Jersey, with 40 years of service and was active with the Exxon Sarasota-Manatee Annuitant’s Club. His job took him and his family to Australia for three years in the 1960s and he traveled extensively throughout the world for business and pleasure. Fred retired from Exxon in 1978 at the age of 59.

He proudly served his country in the U.S. Army during WWII, in India. He received his bachelor of science degree from New York University in 1947.

Fred moved to Venice in 1990 with his wife Ruth. Prior to living in Venice, they lived for 25 years in Manhasset where he was a long time member of the Kiwanis Club, active with Church of Our Savior Lutheran and the Master Crafter of Manhasset. During his years in Venice he enjoyed playing golf, volunteered at the Green Butterfly to benefit the Loveland Center of Florida, continued to travel, found time to read, and engaged in woodworking projects.

He understood the value of kind words and was always happy to engage in conversation and connect with people. He liked to share his memories of growing up in Brooklyn, often recalling that he could ride his bicycle safely around the neighborhood and be gone all day until dinner time. He was always ready for an adventure and liked to keep busy whether that was taking his family on ski trips or, as a member of the Port Washington Yacht Club, sailing his boat on Manhasset Bay for Thirsty Thursday races. He felt he lived a good life and was proud of all his family.

Donations may be made to Tidewell Hospice at 5955 Rand Blvd., Sarasota, FL 34238 through Tidewell.org.

News

Lutheran Church of Our Savior Holds Ribbon-Cutting Ceremony

Friday, 14 June 2013 00:00

On June 1, the Lutheran Church of Our Savior on Franklin Avenue held a ribbon-cutting ceremony and open house for the Port Washington community to celebrate its $1.7-million expansion and renovation. The money has been donated by the congregation as well as through fundraising efforts that have taken place for over a decade. BBS Architects, Landscape Architects and Engineers designed the expansion and renovations, and Triton Construction served as the general contractor.

“I am very excited that we were able to improve our facilities for the benefit of the congregation as well as the entire Port Washington community,” said Reverend Dr. Charles R. Vogeley. “I would like to thank all congregation and project team members who made today’s re-opening celebration possible. In particular, I would like to recognize Tom Rice, who managed the entire project on behalf of our church, Roger Smith and BBS Architects, who designed the beautiful addition and new interiors, and the tireless supporter of the Port Washington community and parish secretary, after whom we have named the new kitchen, Veronica Ann Mosby,” Reverend added.

Thursday, 13 June 2013 00:00

First Anniversary of Series

Café Music, the Friday night music series at the Dolphin Bookshop, will showcase a diverse line up of new and returning musicians this month. The series began on Friday, June 7, with songwriters Nikki Talley and Rupert Wates, performing in Port Washington for the first time. Talley performs Americana and Folk music with her husband. Based in North Carolina, she was excited to include Dolphin in her northeast tour. Wates is an award winning songwriter who also made his Dolphin debut.

Sports

Badminton Team Wins

Thursday, 13 June 2013 00:00

On May 23, the Port Washington Badminton team won its second straight Nassau County Championship by defeating Calhoun by a score of 4-3. This is the third year in a row that Port has played Calhoun in the county finals, with each contest decided by a score of 4-3. In many ways this season followed the same pattern as last year. Of the thirty five teams in the county, Calhoun and Port entered the playoffs as the one and two seeds, respectively. They were Conference I co-champions, but because Calhoun’s margin of victory was greater than Port’s in their two regular season matches, the Colts got the number one seed.

On April 16, Port travelled to Calhoun and lost 1-6. The final team score, however, did not reflect how close the match actually was. Four of Calhoun’s wins came in three set matches (matches are best of three) that came down to the final few points. According to Coach David O’Connor, “It was the best 1-6 loss I’ve ever seen. We walked out of their gym very confident that we could beat them in the future. It may have been a major loss on paper, but I think it really got our players motivated for the rest of the season.”

Port Rowing Makes Splash On National Stage

Thursday, 13 June 2013 00:00

In only its third season, Port Rowing has grown from an exciting start up to a Long Island powerhouse, to a state champion, and now to a top national contender. Three boats qualified from New York State championships to represent Port Rowing at the largest high school Regatta in the world, The Stotesbury Cup, in Philadelphia. There were over 150 schools from America and Canada at the event, and Port Rowing came right out of the gate on fire. The team advanced all three boats into the second round of top 18. In the second round the boats fell just shy of the top 6 final by mere seconds. In the end, the Boys Freshman 8 took 12th overall, and the girl’s lightweight four and men’s junior eight took 7th overall. In the Adaptive category, Michael and Molly took home the title with a demanding victory in the double. It was a great achievement from the pair that just started rowing together less than a year ago to win the Stotesbury Cup.