A. Fred Ruttenberg was a longtime Golf Association of Philadelphia volunteer and Executive Committee member.

*Obituary notice

  A. Fred Ruttenberg, who served on the Executive Committee from 1991-2011, the last 16 years as the Golf Association of Philadelphia’s General Counsel, died on Friday, Jan. 29 at age 73. Ruttenberg, who was a longtime member and past president at Woodcrest Country Club, started as an Association volunteer in 1983 assisting with course ratings – the first year of that service. He also lent his time to the Golf Association of Philadelphia as a tournament and rules official.

  Ruttenberg, who also was an early member at Hidden Creek Golf Club, was a shareholder with the law firm Flaster Greenberg PC in the Business and Corporate Law Practice Group and the Bankruptcy, Financial Restructuring and Risk Management Department. He joined Flaster Greenberg in 2007. He previously was a partner at Blank Rome.

  Daniel B. Burton, who served on the Association’s Executive Committee from 1999-2009, including a three-year span as President (2006-08), worked closely with Ruttenberg.

  “Of all of the people that have ever served GAP, I don’t know if anybody served longer,” Burton, 66, of Lancaster, Pa., said. “He was an incredible resource and worthwhile member of the board. I really enjoyed his company, appreciated his service and loved how he conducted himself. He did it because he loved golf and loved GAP. He was a good guy for the Association and for me as president.”

  Ruttenberg served as General Counsel during Burton’s presidency.

  “He was a great resource for an objective look at whatever situation you had that was complex. He never took anything personally,” Burton said. “You could always talk to him. He was always willing to share his advice. He never demanded his advice be taken. He knew his role and exactly what he was supposed to do: be the impartial observer sitting on the sidelines as your attorney, giving you the pros and cons of an issue. I called on him and always appreciated how well he did that job. He was a very valuable member of the team.”

  Ruttenberg played an instrumental role in the 1995 proposal/1996 approval amending the Golf Association of Philadelphia bylaws removing the word exclusive as it pertained to members and the use of a golf course. This allowed public facilities the opportunity to join the Association.

  Another of Ruttenberg’s lasting achievements involved the development of the Membership guidelines. Those guidelines are still observed and required today.

  John Suender, a GAP course rating volunteer since 2006, knew Ruttenberg for nearly 25 years. The two met professionally through MedQuist, a company at which Ruttenberg served on the Board of Directors and Suender as General Counsel.

  “I had a great deal of respect for Fred as a lawyer,” Suender, 55, of Cherry Hill, N.J., said. “In addition to being a great lawyer, he was an avid golfer. Fred traveled extensively to play golf all over the world. Often times, he would buy me a souvenir golf ball from courses that I had never been to but Fred had, which is a lot.”

  Ruttenberg offered his course rating intellect to both the Association and Golfweek.

  “He was always a pleasure to do course ratings with because Fred had so much experiences with golf courses,” Suender said. “He always had an interesting perspective and interesting opinion. He had a great deal and wisdom for sharing those opinions.

  “When I wanted to get involved with GAP, I spoke with Fred and he made the introduction to [then President] Rich Meehan.”

  Ruttenberg served as the general counsel during Meehan’s presidency as well (2009-11). The two became quite close during their service to the Association.

  “I’ll miss driving to GAP board meetings and course ratings with Fred where I learned of his devotion to Judy and their two girl’s families and his love of the game of golf,” said Meehan, 60, of Moorestown, N.J. “Like his mother who taught me accounting in high school, Fred taught me how to rate golf courses and provided sound guidance to GAP’s Executive Committee.”

  Ruttenberg is survived by wife Judith (nee Lukoff); daughters Dina Blackman and Betsy Contant and grandchildren Jack, Samantha, Alexa, Jared and Evan.

  The Association will certainly miss Ruttenberg's expertise and friendship.