Ted W. N. Rheingold, 47, died September 4, 2017. The cause of death was cancer. While immunotherapy extended his life for a period of time, he ultimately died peacefully in palliative care in San Francisco, where he had lived since 1992.
Born in Rye, on June 2, 1970, he was the son of Joyce and Paul Rheingold. He went to Rye High School, where he was on the ski team, and from which he graduated in 1988.
After graduating from the University of Pennsylvania, with a degree in International Relations, he promptly moved to San Francisco, attracted by the rising technology industry.
He became a successful entrepreneur and angel investor whose passion for advising early-stage startups earned respect in Silicon Valley. He was the founder and CEO of Dogster and Catster, social networking websites for people and their pets. In 2001, he started an Internet development company called One Match Fire, where he engineered websites for a range of businesses.
Through his yearlong fellowship with IDEX in Bangladesh, and extensive world travels, Mr. Rheingold gained a strong sense of connection to people, which impacted his life’s work. His enthusiasm for creating “profit from purpose” led him to work in recent years with companies in developing nations as well as in underserved communities in the United States.
On April 24, 2004, he married Molly Ditmore in San Francisco.
An avid skier, urban cyclist, and hiker, he delighted in being close to the ocean, the Sierras, and the oyster farms of Tomales Bay, where he would take his wife, daughter Mabel, now 6, and dog on spontaneous road trips.
After he was diagnosed with cancer last year, he and the entire Rheingold family went skiing in Squaw Valley.
Ted Rheingold urged everyone to “enjoy every day” and “be the change you want to see in the world.” He was content to say he had no bucket list, that life is the bucket.
In addition to his wife and daughter, Mr. Rheingold is survived by his parents, Paul and Joyce, longtime Rye residents; his brother David, who lives in New York City; his sister Julia McCartney and her husband City Councilman Terry McCartney of Rye and their sons Jack and Daniel; his sister Dr. Susan Rheingold and her husband Jonathan Neely and their son Finn of Philadelphia; many friends from his years in Rye and many more from his career in the tech field around San Francisco.
A remembrance will be held in Rye, October 1 from 3-6 p.m. at Shenorock Shore Club. A celebration of his life is planned at a future date in San Francisco.
Before he died, Ted Rheingold suggested that if anyone wanted to make charitable contributions in his memory that they send a donation to a group he was actively involved with: Northern Sierra Partnership, c/o Community Initiatives, 354 Pine Street, Suite 700, San Francisco, CA 94104-3229.
