Robert C. "Harpo" Rapp 1928-2007

RAPP, LEI, RUFF, DIRKS, SHEPHERD, BUSE, BELLINGS, KEMLER, ENGLING, FUDGE

Posted By: Judi Nicks (email)
Date: 8/7/2007 at 10:55:02

Telegraph Herald
Dubuque, Iowa
Tuesday, August 7, 2007

Robert C. Rapp

Robert C. "Harpo" Rapp, 78, of 27 Locust St., died Saturday, Aug. 4, 2007, at Mercy Medical Center-Dubuque.

Services will be at 10 a.m. Thursday at St. Raphael's Cathedral, with the Rev. Mark A. Ressler officiating. Burial will be in Mount Calvary Cemetery. Friends may call from 3 to 7 p.m. Wednesday at Behr Funeral Home, 1491 Main St., where there will be a parish wake service at 3 p.m.

He was born on Aug. 9, 1928, at 956 Dodge St., third child of Earl E. Rapp and Minnie A. Lei.

His father's family was from the Black Forest in Germany and County Laois, Ireland.

His mother's family was from Pratz, Luxembourg and Mecklenburg-Schwerin, Germany.

He grew up at 706 Hill St. in Dubuque and attended Prescott and St. Raphael schools.

He married Elaine Margaret Ruff on Sept. 27, 1945, at Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Dubuque. She survives.

The family lived at various locations in Dubuque, Kieler, Wis., and Rockdale, before buying a home at 27 Locust St. in the spring of 1957.

Robert often shared stories in his later years about the people and places of Dubuque's South End, much of which he witnessed from his front porch or while working at Cy Callahan's gas station on Jones and Locust streets.

With 11 children at home, he began working as a plumber's apprentice, and then studied for and passed the exam to obtain his plumber's license.

He was a member of the Plumber's Union Local 66 for more than 40 years. Robert worked for several plumbing firms in the Dubuque area before retiring in 1991.

His morning habit in his later years was to read every word in the entire daily newspaper and always chuckle over the cartoon strip "Dennis the Menace."

Also, he found the local greyhound track and riverboat casino to be rewarding places to visit.

Seldom did he miss watching a Chicago Bears, Cubs or White Sox game on television. In earlier years, he enjoyed driving his wife and kids to occasional White Sox games at Comiskey Park in Chicago or to the Madison (Wis.) Zoo.

He genuinely enjoyed knowing what his children and grandchildren were doing in life. And he enjoyed patronizing their professional services and paying calls to their places of business that included a diesel mechanic shop, a billiard parlor, an ice cream parlor and so on.

Surviving are his wife of 61 years, Elaine M. Rapp, of Dubuque; 10 children, Ronald J. (Judy), Richard D. (Janice), Robert E. and Marvin J. (Alana), all of Dubuque, Geraldine M. (Harold) Dirks, of Cedar Falls, Iowa, Karen R. (Steven Shepherd) Rapp, of Mesa, Ariz., Kenneth J. (Yvonne), of Bettendorf, Iowa, Michael G. (Jory), of Alden, Iowa, and Margaret M. "Peggy" (Tim) Buse and Daniel Joseph, both of Dubuque; 31 grandchildren; 22 great-grandchildren; and his brother and sisters, Eileen Bellings, Patricia Kemler, Marilyn (Elmer) Engling, Gerald (Dixie) Rapp and Jeanne (Gerald) Fudge, all of Dubuque.

He was preceded in death by his parents; a son, Russell Charles Rapp, on Feb. 5, 1996; and two brothers, Earl and John.

In lieu of flowers, a Robert C. "Harpo" Rapp Memorial Fund has been established.