Olympic Gold Medalist. He gained his fame from the sport of team rowing. A former Boy Scout troop leader, he was a member of the University of Washington's crew that won a gold medal in the men's eight-oared shells with coxswain at the 1936 Summer Olympic Games on Lake Grunau in Germany. Trailing in last place at the 1,000-meter mark, the Huskies overcame a late start to defeat the Italian national crew by three feet in the final 1,000 meters. The Huskies, representing the USA, established world and Olympic records over the 2,000-meter course, winning their qualifying race with a time of 6:00.86. During his four-year athletic career at the University of Washington in Seattle, he never lost a crew race. In 1971, he was inducted into the National Rowing Hall of Fame, and in 1979, he was inducted into the University of Washington's Husky Hall of Fame. In 2023, Amazon Studios released a film about Joe and his team, directed by George Clooney, titled "The Boys in the Boat," based on a book of the same name by Daniel James Brown. He was played by Callum Turner. He died from natural causes at the age of 93.
Olympic Gold Medalist. He gained his fame from the sport of team rowing. A former Boy Scout troop leader, he was a member of the University of Washington's crew that won a gold medal in the men's eight-oared shells with coxswain at the 1936 Summer Olympic Games on Lake Grunau in Germany. Trailing in last place at the 1,000-meter mark, the Huskies overcame a late start to defeat the Italian national crew by three feet in the final 1,000 meters. The Huskies, representing the USA, established world and Olympic records over the 2,000-meter course, winning their qualifying race with a time of 6:00.86. During his four-year athletic career at the University of Washington in Seattle, he never lost a crew race. In 1971, he was inducted into the National Rowing Hall of Fame, and in 1979, he was inducted into the University of Washington's Husky Hall of Fame. In 2023, Amazon Studios released a film about Joe and his team, directed by George Clooney, titled "The Boys in the Boat," based on a book of the same name by Daniel James Brown. He was played by Callum Turner. He died from natural causes at the age of 93.
Bio by: Nils M. Solsvik Jr.
Family Members
Advertisement
See more Rantz memorials in:
Explore more
Sponsored by Ancestry
Advertisement
