Dr. David Moore Ritter, UW Chemist Who Worked On Atomic Bomb, Nylon

David Moore Ritter worked on the team that pioneered nuclear fission and the atomic bomb.

He also worked with DuPont as the company was developing nylon, one of the earliest synthetic fibers.

Yet he will be remembered most for the generations of students he taught, and the chemistry research he conducted, in nearly 40 years at the University of Washington.

"My father cared greatly about everything he was connected with - about science, about doing the job right, whether teaching a class, building a bookshelf or trimming a bonsai tree," said his son, Daniel Ritter of Seattle.

"He also cared about the people surrounding him, taking an unusually detailed and personal interest in everything they did. He was quite demanding . . . and that could be tough sometimes. But the motivating principle was compassion and the wish for you to do the best you were capable of doing."

Dr. Ritter died Tuesday (July 8) from the complications of a series of strokes. He was 85.

"He was committed to helping the community," said his daughter, Kristin Carver of Tacoma. "His grandfather was a Methodist minister, and he grew up in a Christian home."

Born to an engineer and a schoolteacher in Flint, Mich., he spent his youth in Kenosha, Wis., and developed a passion for chemistry.

"He was the proverbial boy chemist who built a laboratory in the basement," said his son. "(He) conducted experiments that resulted in a few explosions and once required evacuation of the entire house."

Dr. Ritter earned a doctorate in chemistry at the University of Chicago in 1936.

In the late 1930s he did research for DuPont in Wilmington, Del. But after the start of World War II he worked in Chicago and Tennessee with the Manhattan Project group that developed the atomic bomb.

After the war he moved to Seattle to do research at the University of Washington. Then he began to teach. He retired from the UW at age 70.

Although he approached teaching with his typical rigor, Dr. Ritter was happier doing research in advanced inorganic and physical chemistry. He mastered glass-blowing and built a set of vacuum lines to facilitate experiments in his specialty, the structure of boron hydrides.

His work with graduate students led them to establish in his name a permanently endowed, graduate fellowship in chemistry at the UW.

Away from the lab, Dr. Ritter enjoyed woodworking and gardening, particularly with bonsai trees. When his son was young, Dr. Ritter led Explorer Scouts on annual outings to the Olympic Mountains.

He also volunteered at Gethsemane Lutheran Church, served as a director of Lutheran Campus Ministries, and helped at the Lutheran Compass Center in Seattle.

"Helping just came naturally to him," said his daughter.

Other survivors include his wife of 60 years, Bernice Ritter of Woodinville; brother, Robert Ritter of Westerville, Ohio; and three grandchildren.

Services were held. Memorials may go to Ritter Fellowship Fund, c/o Department of Chemistry, University of Washington, Seattle WA, 98195; the Lutheran Compass Center, 77 S. Washington St., Seattle, WA 98104; or Lutheran Social Services of Washington and Idaho, 6920 220th Ave. S.W., Mountlake Terrace, WA 98043.