John C. Pittenger, former Pennsylvania Secretary of Education and former state representative died Sunday at Homestead Village from complications of Parkinson's disease. He was 79."'Pitt,' as he was affectionately known, was a true patriot, serving his nation, his state and his community as a military veteran, as an educator, a farmer, a lawyer, a state legislator and a state Cabinet secretary," Bruce Beardsley, chairman of the Lancaster County Democratic Committee, said.
"To me, and to my political colleagues, he was a friend and trusted mentor," Beardsley said. "He played an invaluable behind-the-scenes role in the renaissance of the local Democratic Party, advising me, my predecessor and many others. He helped the party raise money, and he enjoyed and had a remarkable knack for motivating and recruiting people to volunteer for the party. It was almost impossible to say 'no' to Pitt."
Beardsley said Pittenger was the "epitome of a great American. Throughout a lifetime of service, he never abandoned the effort to make the world a little better place, although he did come to discover that it's a lot harder than he thought it would be. He will be sorely missed."
Mike Sturla, the current state Congressman for the 96th District, said, "I, along with countless others, consider him a mentor. Very few people talked to him and didn't learn learn something. I respected what he accomplished and what he tried to get others to accomplish."
Jim Shultz actively campaigned for Pittenger's election in the 1960s.
"He was a mentor to me and others. We sought out his counsel and great advice. He was selfless, taking an interest in our lives, in our careers and families," said Shultz, a friend of Pittenger for more than 50 years. "I admired his passion for the Democratic Party. He was the personification of Mr. Democrat."
Just three months ago, Pittenger was on the phone to committee people and working to get people registered to vote, Shultz said.
"He was passionate about public service," Shultz said. "I will greatly miss him."
G. Terry Madonna, director of Franklin & Marshall College's government department and a political analyst, said Pittenger was an early mentor of his, too.
"I deeply respected his views on politics and government. He was the first person to introduce me to politics when I was in college and to participating in government," Madonna said. "He deliberately sought out some of the young people at the college to get involved in politics."
Madonna said Pittenger encouraged young people to get into politics as an "honorable profession."
"He stressed that good people need to get into government service," Madonna said. "He was a man of incredible integrity with very, very strong convictions and willing to express them. He was an incredible role model."
Lancaster Mayor Rick Gray said Pittenger was "certainly a man of principles and an anchor in the Lancaster Democratic Party for many years."
"Even when he was not living here, he participated from a distance," Gray said. "His intellectual abilities were great, and he was a warm, caring person. His character traits were reflected in his politics. He was motivated to get the best for a person, whether aged, infirm or young. He was a tremendous guy."
After practicing law in Lancaster from 1958 to 1965, Pittenger became involved in Democratic politics. He served in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives for the 96th District from 1965 to 1966. During this term, Pittenger helped draft the bill that set up the Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency scholarship program and was a principal sponsor of the Mental Health/Mental Retardation Act of 1966.
He was defeated in the next election, but was re-elected the following term, serving from 1969 to 1970. As a member of the Democratic Policy Committee and chairman of the Joint Legislative Data Processing Committee, Pittenger helped develop assessment procedure reform and computerize all state registration and election figures.
Also during his two terms, Pittenger authored a controversial proposal for charging graduated -- or income-based -- tuition at state colleges and universities and vigorously supported a bill to strengthen the powers of the state Board of Education. He was the first member of the General Assembly to bring high school seniors to Harrisburg on a regular basis to serve as pages in the House of Representatives.
He also served as director of research for the minority Caucus of the House of Representatives from 1967 to 1968.
In 1971, while a member of the Commission on School Finance, Pittenger was appointed legislative secretary to Gov. Milton J. Shapp and served as a liaison between the governor's office and the Department of Education.
As legislative secretary, he helped steer the state's first personal income tax bill through the General Assembly, played an instrumental role in securing reforms to Workmen's Compensation and Unemployment Compensation Acts and guided to passage the bill that created the Department of Environmental Resources.
A year later, Shapp named Pittenger the state secretary of education.
As secretary, he established due process rights for handicapped children and created the Governor's School for the Arts and the state government internship program for state college students.
He also led the fight to mandate equal athletic programs for female students in public schools and supervised the first complete rewrite of the school code in 30 years. In addition, he played a key role in adopting the system of statewide achievement and attitudinal testing in grades five, eight and 11.
He served for three years as chairman of the legislative committee of the National Council of Chief State School Officers.
Pittenger resigned as secretary in late 1976 to accept a position as visiting lecturer at Harvard Graduate School of Education.
In 1978, state House Speaker K. Leroy Irvis asked Pittenger to chair a commission on the reform of the Pennsylvania House. His commission's report led to the establishment of the Bi-Partisan Management Committee and other major reforms.
In 1979, Pittenger threw his hat into the ring in the race for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Richard Schweiker, but withdrew a year later when Mayor Pete Flaherty of Pittsburgh entered the race.
Pittenger was named dean of Rutgers University Law School in 1981. There, he instituted an exchange program with the law faculty of Karl Francis University in Graz, Austria; presided over the development of specialties in taxation and international law; and helped persuade Rutgers to build a law school dormitory in Camden.
Although he stepped down as dean in 1986 to move back to Pittwillow Farm --the family farm in southern Chester County --he continued to teach at the law school until his retirement in 1994.
Throughout the years, Pittenger taught several courses as an adjunct professor in the government department at F&M and served as the college's pre-law advisor.
He also was the co-author, with Henry W. Bragdon, of "The Pursuit of Justice," an introduction to constitutional law for high school students, and of "Politics Ain't Beanbag," a political memoir.
Once Pittenger moved to Homestead Village in 1997, he became active in Democratic politics once more. He said he wouldn't be happy until the day there was a Democratic mayor in Lancaster, a Democratic governor in Harrisburg and a Democrat in the White House -- all at the same time.
Pittenger attended public school in Swarthmore and Phillips Exeter Academy, Exeter, N.H. He graduated summa cum laude from Harvard College with a degree in American history in 1951 and cum laude from Harvard Law School in 1958.
Between college and law school, Pittenger was a Frank Knox Fellow at the London School of Economics. He received the honorary degree, doctorate of humane letters, from Franklin & Marshall College in 1981.
A first lieutenant, he served in the infantry and government intelligence in the U.S. Army from 1952 to 1955.
He was a member of the Society of Friends.
Active in community affairs, Pittenger served as president of Lancaster Opera Workshop and Harvard Club of Central Pennsylvania and vice president of the board of Family and Children's Services and Lancaster Foundation for Educational Enrichment. He was a trustee of Lincoln University.
An avid squash and badminton player, he served intermittently for 15 years as the first coach of F&M's men's squash team.
He received the Lancaster Jaycee Good Government Award in 1967, the B'Nai B'rith Man of the Year Award in 1968 and the Penn State Special Award for Leadership in 1976. The Lancaster County Democratic Committee honored him in 2003 with its first Lifetime Achievement Award.
Born in Philadelphia, he was the son of the late Nicholas Otto and Cornelia VanDerveer Chapman Pittenger.
He was married to Pauline Miller Pittenger.
Surviving in addition to his wife are two stepsons, Josiah Leet of Lancaster and Matthew Leet of Oakland, Calif.; and a sister, Jane Kellenberger of Boulder, Colo.
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