In memoriam: ARTBA Past Chair Jack Rutter

By Mark Holan, editorial director, ARTBA

ARTBA’s 1992 Chair John P. “Jack” Rutter passed away Nov. 25, 2021. He was 87.

Born in Harrisburg, Pa., he graduated from Villanova University in 1956 as a civil engineer and was a registered engineer in Pennsylvania and Maryland.

He spent his career at two Pennsylvania firms, retiring in 1999 as vice president of I.A. Construction Corporation. He was executive vice president of G.A. & F.C Wagman during his tenure as ARTBA chair, which began shortly after President George H. W. Bush signed the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act (ISTEA) into law.

Then, as still true today following President Joe Biden’s signature on the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), Rutter urged ARTBA members not to relax their advocacy efforts, especially in the face of annual congressional appropriations.

‘The job in Washington is not over, it’s just begun,’ he said in a March/April 1992 Transportation Builder magazine profile. ‘You better believe that now that the spotlight is off the surface transportation reauthorization, the competition for federal dollars is going to become increasingly fierce because of a tight budget.’

Rutter received the ARTBA’s Contractors Division Nello L. Teer Award in 1997, and the ARTBA Award, the association’s highest honor, in 1998.

He served as chair of the Bridge Committee of the Associated Pennsylvania Constructors for more than two decades. He was both chapter president and national president of the American Society of Highway Engineers, and a member of the National Society of Professional Engineers and the American Society of Civil Engineers. Rutter also was a past director of the Eno Center for Transportation, Washington, D.C., and a member of the Pennsylvania Governors Transportation Advisory Committee.

He is survived by his wife of 63 years, Patricia, and four children. A son preceded him in death. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to Hospice and Community Care, 235 St. Charles Way, Suite 250, York, Pa.,17402.