By Ed Gold
Martin Rettinger, a longtime Villager who served more than 20 years as a Criminal Court and acting Supreme Court judge, died April 18 in Longboat, Fl. He was 80.
Death was sudden and completely unexpected, according to his wife, Jill Considine. He seemed in good health and had enjoyed playing tennis that afternoon, his wife noted.
He had moved to Greenwich Village in the 1950s and later joined Village Independent Democrats where he became friendly with an ambitious club member, Ed Koch.
Rettinger, a practicing lawyer, had a taste for politics and wound up doing advance work for a number of candidates, including Howard Samuels, who ran for governor; Ramsey Clark, who ran for the U.S. Senate; and, in 1977, Koch in his successful bid to become mayor of New York.
In the Koch campaign he would frequently travel with Bess Myerson, the former Miss America, who was an avid Koch supporter. She had a temper and one of Rettinger’s chores was to keep it under wraps when things got hectic. She also was a prima donna. Rettinger on occasion served as her driver and once told a friend: “If Bess drops her handbag you better catch it before it hits the ground.”
Family and friends remember several Rettinger personality and character traits that were conspicuous. He was always full of energy, whether in the courtroom, on the campaign trail or meeting the needs of his very active wife and their daughter, or playing tennis or sculling.
He was also noted for a sharp sense of humor, a very caring feeling for people he met and for a host of eccentricities.
As Considine noted in remarks addressed to her husband at his memorial service, “You never met a stranger — once you met someone, the stories began and they were drawn into your web. People totally opened up to you, revealing their innermost thoughts, because they knew how caring and concerned you were, no matter who, be they immigrant gardener or governor.”
Some of his personal actions did push the envelope. If you were late for lunch by one minute, he’d call to find out what delayed you.
A close friend and fellow lawyer, Mel Hartman, asked Rettinger to officiate at his marriage, but the judge insisted it was a bad date to get married. But he went along with Hartman, who discovered that Rettinger feared he would miss watching Super Bowl XIII if the ceremony lasted too long. He watched the game at dinnertime.
However, when Hartman was seriously ill and needed a blood transfusion, Rettinger immediately volunteered.
Rettinger’s judicial career began in 1978 when Mayor Koch appointed him to the Criminal Court. Shortly thereafter, he also began working as an acting Supreme Court justice.
He handled a wide range of cases, including some dealing with antitrust issues. But his most famous case occurred with the killing of John Lennon of the Beatles. When the killer, Mark David Chapman, was apprehended, Rettinger immediately ordered a suicide watch.
After retirement he also served as arbiter in Small Claims Court and as a hearing officer.
He was born in Brooklyn, and attended Brooklyn College and Brooklyn Law School, where he earned his law degree. He also served as adjunct professor at Adelphi University’s graduate school of business administration.
At the time Rettinger came up for reappointment, Rudy Giuliani was mayor, and Rettinger was nervous. He calmed himself by stopping at car dealerships all over Manhattan and trying on new tires. He did get reappointed.
In private life he was very protective of his wife and their daughter, Danielle. He and Considine married in 1977. She is a financial wizard and had a conspicuously hectic business career, which added to Rettinger’s household responsibilities, a role he willingly accepted.
Considine served as chairperson and C.E.O. of D.T.C.C., which services banks and brokerage houses worldwide, a job that keep her traveling frequently. She is now a trustee appointed by the Treasury Department to protect shareholder interest at AIG, recipient of a large U.S. loan that now gives the U.S. 80 percent of AIG’s stock.
Considine recalled how worried Rettinger was on his daughter’s first date. She remembers he used binoculars to see where she went.
In addition to the house in Florida, the Rettingers have an apartment in Midtown Manhattan, and a house in Seaview, Fire Island, where Rettinger spent a lot of energy ensuring no construction would block clear access to the bay.
As a judge, he had one very unexpected experience. He was strolling one day when a man came up to him and said: “Judge, you sent me up for two-and-a-half years but that changed my life for the better, so I just wanted to thank you.”
A memorial service at Riverside Chapel drew an estimated 300 people. Burial was private and took place at Pinelawn Cemetery on Long Island.
Survivors, beside his wife, include their daughter Danielle, who lives in New York and works in the theater; a sister Phyllis Ratner and her husband David, who live in Afula, Israel; and another sister Diane Shore and her husband Jay of La Jolla, Cal.
Contributions in his memory should be made to the GO Project, 86 Fourth Ave., NY, NY 10003. GO stands for “great opportunities” and is devoted to assisting inner-city children.
