William "Chip" Glover Rueter, III

Family and friends will gather to honor and celebrate Chip's life at Evans Life Celebration Home in Monkton, MD on Friday, February 24, 2023, from 3:00 to 5:00 PM and from 7:00 to 9:00 PM. 

A funeral service for Chip will be held at Our Lady of Grace Church in Parkton, MD, on Saturday, February 25, 2023, at 11:00 AM with a reception following for close family and friends at Elizabeth and Johnathon Brett’s home at 918 Greenspring Valley Rd. in Brooklandville, MD.

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Chip Rueter passed away peacefully, though unexpectedly, on February 17, 2023.

Born June 18, 1951 in Manchester, Massachusetts, Chip was the eldest child of six born to William Glover Rueter Jr. and Sarah Littlejohn Rueter nee Edwards.   Chip grew up in a home the family called Woodholm. It was a stately building out of the 1920’s nestled on rolling acreage of boulders and knolls, just a short distance from the center of Manchester and Singing Beach.   He and his siblings recount formative and adventurous play there together and all manner of loving time and traditions interspersed with mischief. 

Following in the traditions of his mother’s family, Chip spent his summers on Cape Cod.  He loved the Cape, all of its people, and the Barnstable Yacht Club (“BYC”). While the demands of work and the joy of his own family kept him away from the Cape as much as he would have liked, he remains an all-time performer off the diving board at the BYC and in “Orchard” lawn games (including croquet) and parties at the family home.  The “toe scraper,” a signature diving board talent, was always performed with an ear-to-ear grin for the pleasure of the audience, despite the protests of his feet.  He was the best at it, partly because no one else would dare to do it.  It is on the Cape where he met his closest, lifelong friends; Dean Yount, Jay Harris, Angus Laird, and Gordon Hunt.  The five of them would fly planes from Hyannis Airport and work around the airport. In demonstration of the young men’s liberties and sensibilities at that time, they smoked cigarettes while refueling aircraft.   

Attending Middlesex School in Massachusetts for secondary education and then enrolling at the University of Pennsylvania, Chip studied English and graduated with his BA.  While in college, he was a member of the Mask & Wig Club, St Anthony Hall Fraternity, and the sprint football team.  Between his liberal arts education, his large family of educated bibliophiles, and a desire to engage with people at any and every level, Chip developed his extensive vocabulary and warm smile.  He was old fashioned in some (most) of his choice of language in a way that was both educational and amusing to any interlocutor he engaged.     

Most of his career was spent in the automotive industry.  He worked at the Hertz Corporation in the early 1980’s where on frigid winter days he directed the car fleets around JFK Airport and Manhattan with a short sleeve polo shirt, raised collar, and worn-down Sperry topsiders or penny loafers – a look he continued to don his entire life, regardless of the weather.   At Hertz, Chip met the woman he would love from “the first day he met her” until the last day he lived, Tricia Rueter.  After several attempts to get her to date him, a forlorn Thanksgiving, unable to get home to see his own family in Boston turned fortuitous, when Chip was invited to Thanksgiving with Tricia’s family where he succeeded in winning over Tricia’s parents.  Her mother with his kindness and dedication, and her father with his ability to finish a bottle of Drambuie.  Tricia was won over by his warmth, values, intellect, patient and unruffled demeanor, and devotion to her, and the family they planned.  They were married on June 16, 1984 on Long Island, NY.  Tricia was Chip’s passion and his hobby, and his partner in building a family that would begin in Montclair, NJ, before moving to Garden City, Long Island, Palos Verdes, CA and ultimately to Monkton, MD in 1994.  They raised three children: Elizabeth Day Brett, William “Billy” Glover Rueter IV, and Michael Degen Rueter.

After Hertz, Chip worked in positions of leadership at the wryly named Rent-a-Wreck Corporation. Eventually, he redirected his energy from the corporate office toward building his own franchise portfolio.  When franchising didn’t take root, he carved a path working with larger dealerships on adjacent opportunities in rental cars, incorporating under the brand “Five-Star-Rent-a-Car.”  He then focused on managing finance functions of his employers’ dealership sales in local markets.  Chip was also proud of his time and stories as a motorcycle police officer on the Cape, before taking a corporate path. 

Chip loved people and he loved his family most of all.  He was always overjoyed to see friends and family and he had a genuine smile, warm words, tireless energy, and a patient ear that could reach anyone.  Which is not to say he didn’t have a well-attested contrarian streak in stoking conversation, but most often it was in the pursuit of a good time more than anything.  He had a deep moral compass and was a source and example of strength, reason, and generosity.

He had no demands of others, but no ask, and no task, was out of the question when it concerned the needs of his family and friends.   In the few moments he did take for himself, he might enjoy yardwork and gardening vegetables in the tranquil setting of his Monkton home, a glass of bourbon, and a fine cigar.  Above all, he treasured time with his family.  Splashing in pools with the children when they were young, teaching them through board games and outdoor activities as they grew, counseling them as they set course in their own lives, and embracing the addition of every new family member with fervor and encouragement.  Drawn to time around the water, he led his family on regular vacations to the Cape and to other beaches around the country where they could enjoy uninterrupted time together on hot summer days.  He cherished the holidays and warm fireplaces that brought the family together.  He is survived by his mother, Sarah, his five siblings; Matthew, Margaret, Susan, Katherine, and John, his three children and their spouses; Elizabeth and her husband Johnathon, Billy and his wife Claire, and Michael, his five grandchildren; Felicity, Degen, Adelaide, Theodore, and Neave, and the one love of his life, Tricia.

No one could meet Chip without feeling his warmth.  His smile is a centerpiece of every photo and family memory.  Memories of Chip are the center of his family forever.

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