Joseph Harry Rantz (March 31, 1914 – September 10, 2007) was an American

rower Rowing, sometimes called crew in the United States, is the sport of racing boats using oars. It differs from paddling sports in that rowing oars are attached to the boat using oarlocks, while paddles are not connected to the boat. Rowing is ...

who won Olympic gold in the men's eight at the 1936 Summer Olympics.

Early life

Born in

Spokane, Washington Spokane ( ) is the largest city and county seat of Spokane County, Washington, United States. It is in eastern Washington, along the Spokane River, adjacent to the Selkirk Mountains, and west of the Rocky Mountain foothills, south of the Cana ...

, Joe Rantz had a harsh childhood in Boulder City, Idaho and later

Sequim, Washington Sequim ( ) is a city in Clallam County, Washington, United States. It is located along the Dungeness River near the base of the Olympic Mountains. The 2010 census counted a population of 6,606. Sequim lies within the rain shadow of the Olympic ...

. His mother Nellie Maxwell (1881–1918) died from throat cancer when Rantz was just four. 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. 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 The University of Washington (UW, simply Washington, or informally U-Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 1861, Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast; it was established in Seattl ...

Rowing and later career

Rantz rowed in the

senior varsity eights which won US national

Intercollegiate Rowing Association The Intercollegiate Rowing Association (IRA) governs intercollegiate rowing between varsity men's heavyweight, men's lightweight, and women's lightweight rowing programs across the United States, while the NCAA fulfills this role for women's ope ...

titles in 1936 and 1937 as well as the victorious sophomore eight of 1935 and freshman eight of 1934. 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.Brown, Daniel James (2013). ''The Boys In The Boat'', Viking / Penguin Group, New York. . Rantz earned a chemical engineering degree from the University and worked for

Boeing The Boeing Company () is an American multinational corporation that designs, manufactures, and sells airplanes, rotorcraft, rockets, satellites, telecommunications equipment, and missiles worldwide. The company also provides leasing and p ...

following his retirement from rowing. He died of congestive heart failure in Redmond, Washington, at age 93.

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Rantz, Joseph 1914 births 2007 deaths American male rowers Rowers at the 1936 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists for the United States in rowing University of Washington alumni Sportspeople from Spokane, Washington Medalists at the 1936 Summer Olympics