Phil Rittenhouse

By ALLISON SELK

Shaw Media correspondent

Phil Rittenhouse always dreamed of becoming a police officer.

It didn’t come to fruition, but years later, he would find himself in a volunteer situation that took him close to his childhood dream.

“I’m not a full-fledged police officer, but I can carry a gun, just not issue tickets,” Rittenhouse said of his volunteer position on the Lockport Police Auxiliary. “I fulfilled my dream somewhat.”

Rittenhouse was encouraged to fill out an application for this program. Several years later, the application went through and he attended a sixmonth program at the police academy.

When he first retired, Rittenhouse looked for “something to do.” He used his knowledge as a ham radio operator to launch a volunteer career with the Lockport Emergency Management Agency 12 years ago.

Two years after he began, he became the coordinator, assisting Lockport Police Department with traffic control around town, at the high school and at accident scenes, approximately 800-1,000 hours per year.

“It keeps me busy so I don’t sit around, watch TV and get fat,” Rittenhouse said.

That initial involvement with Lockport EMA led to a string of other volunteer opportunities for Rittenhouse. Seven years ago, he joined the Will County Emergency Management Agency and shortly after, he joined the auxiliary.

Rittenhouse said the most recent work he has done with the Will County EMA was the battery fire in Morris in June of this year. At this fire and other scenes, Rittenhouse sets up the communication vans at the event to create a command center for police and fire departments. He also electronically mixes the channels so the police and fire can be on the same radio channels to communicate.

Lockport Police Chief Richard Harang said, “Phil always answers the phone whenever additional help or resources are needed and responds to assist any time, day or night, rain or shine. At times he will spend more than 12 hours on a particular scene or event just to help out whenever additional assistance is needed.”

Harang shared a list of duties Rittenhouse performs throughout his work with these agencies: traffic control; HellsGate Haunted House details; parades; assistance with events such as Canal Days, Community Unity, fireworks, Christmas Crossroads, car shows and Coffin Races; and more.

Rittenhouse said he enjoys the variety of the volunteer work he has done over the years. He also volunteered during his time in the Marine Corps from 1966 to 1971 and carried it forward to civilian life: “I like to help people.”

In spring 2022, Rittenhouse plans to retire from his volunteer work in Will County and move to Indiana where he and his wife have a home on a lake. He plans to fish on the lake and spend time with his wife.

“This gets harder for me to do with age, I had a minor stroke and health complications in 2020 and 2021, maybe this is showing me something,” Rittenhouse said. “We never know how much time we have left.”

Harang said he will never be able to fill the shoes of Rittenhouse with these organizations, as it’s hard to find someone who will always answer the call and not complain, even on a 12-hour traffic control event.

He said Rittenhouse often heard he was worth his weight in gold.

“We can’t find anybody to replace Phil, someone who will volunteer his time in multiple capacities,” Harang said. “We are not going to find another Phil Rittenhouse.”