Joseph Rantz

Joseph Harry "Joe" Rantz (March 31, 1914 – September 10, 2007) was an American rower who competed in the 1936 Summer Olympics.

Born in Spokane, Washington, but was raised in Sequim, Washington. Rantz rowed for the University of Washington during the Great Depression.

In 1936, he won the gold medal as a member of the American boat in the eights competition.Rantz earned a chemical engineering degree from the University and worked for Boeing following his retirement from rowing.

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 gold medal in Berlin in 1936.

He died of congestive heart failure in Redmond, Washington, at age 93.