Richard O. Ristine

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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_O._Ristine

Richard Osborne Ristine (January 19, 1920 – June 20, 2009) was a politician from the U.S. state of Indiana. Between 1961 and 1965 he served as Lieutenant Governor of Indiana.

Life

Richard Ristine was born in Crawfordsville in Indiana. In 1941 he graduated from the Wabash College in that City. During World War II he served in the Army Air Corps in the Philippines and Japan, where he reached the rank of Captain. Afterwards he studied law at the Columbia University. After his permission to the bar he started working as an attorney. He joined the Republican Party and in 1950 he was elected to the Indiana Senate. Ten years later he ran successfully for the office of the Lieutenant Governor of Indiana. He served in this position between 9 January 1961 and 11 January 1965 when his term ended. In this function he was the deputy of Governor Matthew E. Welsh and he presided over the State Senate. In this function he voted in favor of Indiana's first sales tax in 1963. In 1964 he ran unsuccessfully for the Governor’s office of Indiana.

After the end of his political career he continued his work as a Lawyer. He also became a Member of the boards of various companies and enterprises. He also was Chairman of the Indiana Historical Society. In 1990 he retired and moved to Leland in Michigan where he died on 20. June 2009.

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RICHARD RISTINE OBITUARY LELAND — A memorial celebration will be held at the Leland Lodge June 27, 2009, from 2 to 4 p.m., to honor Richard O. "Dick" Ristine, 89, who died at home in Leland on June 20, 2009, after a brief illness. A memorial service will be held in the Wabash College Chapel, Crawfordsville, Ind., at a later date. Mr. Ristine was born Jan. 19, 1920, the only child of Harley Thomson and Helen Osborne Ristine of Crawfordsville, Ind. As a child he began spending summer weeks in Leland. He attended public schools in Crawfordsville and graduated summa cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa from Wabash College.

After graduating from Columbia University Law School, he served in World War II with the Army Air Corps in the Philippines and Japan, until his honorable discharge as a Captain in 1946. Later that year, he married Mary Lou Durrett of Wichita Falls, Texas.

After launching his legal career with the Baker & Daniels law firm in Indianapolis, he moved his family to Crawfordsville to practice law there, as had his great-grandfather, his grandfather and his father.

Following in the footsteps of his grandfather and great-great-grandfather, who had served in the Indiana General Assembly, Mr. Ristine was elected in 1950 to the Indiana State Senate, where he continued to represent Montgomery and Putnam counties through 1960, when he was elected Lieutenant Governor.

In 1964, Mr. Ristine was the Republican candidate for Governor. For his 14 years in elected public office, he will be particularly remembered for his 1963 tie-breaking vote, as President of the Senate, which resulted in Indiana's first sales tax.

In Crawfordsville, he practiced law with Robert Wernle. Their firm, Wernle, Ristine and Ayers, was Indiana's second oldest law firm at the time of its dissolution in 2000. In the 1960s, following his term as Lieutenant Governor, Mr. Ristine became president of Crawfordsville's Elston Bank & Trust Co. His tenure on its board of directors spanned 31 years. Starting in Crawfordsville and continuing for over five decades, he had been an elder in the Presbyterian Church.

In Indianapolis, Mr. Ristine was a vice-president of L.S. Ayres & Co. before becoming Executive Vice-President of Lilly Endowment. During his Indianapolis era, he helped numerous corporations and nonprofit organizations pursue their missions by serving on their boards of directors.

His Board service included the Federal Home Loan Bank of Indianapolis, Meridian Mutual Insurance Co., Indianapolis Water Co. and L.S. Ayres & Co. Mr. Ristine was a former chairman of the Indiana Historical Society, a former vice-chairman and a life trustee of the Nature Conservancy (Indiana Chapter), former chairman of the Indiana State Board of Mental Health and the Association of Mental Health in Indiana, former vice-chairman of the Indiana Employment Security Board and of Historic Landmarks Foundation of Indiana, former chairman of the Board of Regents of the Indiana Academy, and former board member of Associated Colleges of Indiana.

Throughout his life, Mr. Ristine was passionate about Wabash College. His ancestors were among the founders of the College and the town of Crawfordsville. Among the positions he held were president of the National Association of Wabash Men and of the former Wabash College Foundation, Treasurer of the College for 10 years, and Director of Development and Director for External Affairs, before retiring in 1993.

On the Board of Trustees he served actively for 35 years and in emeritus status for 15 years. His widow, Mary Lou "Lou" Ristine, is the second of six honorary alumnae of the all-male college. In Leland, in his 70s and 80s, Mr. Ristine continued to serve his community, especially after Dick and Lou moved there permanently in 1997, to the home they had bought in 1975.

He assisted several Leelanau County charitable organizations and township commissions, and at the time of his death, was an honorary chairman of the Leelanau Conservancy, a past director of Leelanau Children's Center and a member of the Rotary Club of Suttons Bay and Leelanau County.

He was named a Sagamore of the Wabash by six Republican and four Democrat governors, and received honorary degrees from Wabash College, Indiana State University, Vincennes University, Indiana University and Marian College.

Mr. Ristine is survived by Lou, his wife of 62 years; their three sons, Richard O. Jr. (Karen) and Thomas H. (Jill) of Indianapolis and James D. (Mardi Black) of Leelanau Township; four grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.

Memorial contributions may be made to Wabash College or to Wabash Avenue Presbyterian Church, both of Crawfordsville, Ind., or to the Leelanau Conservancy, the Leelanau Children's Center or Share Care of Leelanau County, all of Leland.

Arrangements are with the Martinson Funeral Home of Suttons Bay.

This obituary was originally published in the Record-Eagle. http://www.legacy.com/Obituaries.asp?Page=LifeStory&PersonId=128813201 Name: Richard Osborne Ristine Birth Date: 19 Jan 1920 Birth Place: Indianapolis, Marion, Indiana SAR Membership: 62594 Role: Applicant Application Date: 26 Feb 1944 Father: Harley Thomson Ristine Mother: Helen Osborne Ristine