“We are fortunate that he is found,” Jeanne Ratterman said Monday after her husband’s remains were recovered in the rubble of a hotel destroyed by the Jan. 12 earthquake in Haiti.
The family of Walt Ratterman learned Sunday night that the Washougal resident’s remains were found by a recovery team at the site of the Hotel Montana in Port-au-Prince.
Her husband’s remains were taken to a military mortuary center in Dover, Del., Jeanne Ratterman said in an e-mail Monday afternoon.
More than a dozen families remain in limbo, she said. Thirteen of the 17 people originally unaccounted for at the Hotel Montana are still missing, she said.
The 57-year-old Washougal man’s survivors include his wife, their son, Shane, and their daughter, Briana.
“I haven’t much information about Walt right now as I await answers to questions I have,” Jeanne Ratterman said Monday afternoon.
She was told that her husband’s remains were taken to Dover Air Force Base, where forensic testing would confirm his identity.
“Until the embassy calls and until Dover Air Force Base and the Red Cross call me, all I know is that Walt is found,” she said.
Jeanne Ratterman said she had been spending the day calling family members one by one, “to personally give them the news … Along the way, I’ve been comforting many,” she said.
The Rattermans will hold a memorial gathering for friends and family in the near future, she said.
Walt Ratterman, the co-founder of nonprofit Sun Energy Power International, was visiting Haiti to check on a solar-power project.
For nearly a month, family and friends have been glued to a Facebook page created to share information and inspiration about search and rescue efforts. It was there Monday that they announced the discovery of Walt Ratterman’s remains:
“Dear friends and family, we were notified late last night that Walt’s remains have been identified, and he will be flown home soon. … Thank you for your love, prayers and support; we look forward to speaking with each of you personally when we are able. Sincerely, Jeanne, Briana and Shane.”
Friends and acquaintances immediately started to offer condolences on the social networking site.
“A great man has gone the way all great men must eventually go,” David Sperow posted Monday afternoon. “In his life’s wake, he has left a legacy that will echo through eternity. Selflessly, he ran his race and finished strong. He took the tiger by the tail and lived a life that made the world a better place than he found it.”
Briana Ratterman told The Columbian that her dad’s work often took him to impoverished nations and politically perilous regions.
He worked in Southeast Asia, South America and Indian villages in the Amazon where tree trunks are covered with fire ants.
However, “You never think about natural disasters,” Briana Ratterman said.
In Haiti, he was helping a nonprofit health agency power up small rural clinics. Walt Ratterman was last seen with his friend and colleague Herbert Kanzki of Green Energy Solutions in the Hotel Montana, a popular spot for tourists, aid workers and diplomats.
A group of 10 friends traveled to Haiti to help search for Ratterman shortly after the earthquake. At one point, Kenny Alphin of the country music duo Big & Rich flew to Haiti to assist in the search for his friend.
In one Facebook post, a friend shared her recollection of the time Walt Ratterman delivered an “impromptu solar class” in Rwanda for a small audience that included former President Bill Clinton, Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates and wife Melinda Gates.
Wrote Shane Ratterman: “Dad was really tickled when he talked about that lecture.”
