Rakoff, Mary

RAKOFF, MILLER, MADRIL, DAVIS

Posted By: Bill Rathbun (email)
Date: 8/22/2003 at 12:08:29

Mary Rakoff, 77, of 1431 Marcy St. in Iowa City, died Sunday, Aug. 17, 2003, near Batavia from injuries suffered in an automobile accident.

The funeral will be held at 2 p.m. Friday at Lensing Funeral and Cremation Service in Iowa City, with Charity Rowley officiating. Burial of cremains will be private.

Visitation will begin at 1 p.m. and continue until service time at the funeral home.

Memorials are designated to the Iowa City Animal Shelter or The Humane Society. Online condolences may be directed to www.lensingfuneral.com and by selecting "sign guest book."

Mrs. Rakoff was born Sept. 30, 1925, in Wagoner, Okla., the daughter of Ray B. and Addie B. Miller. She married Henry Rakoff Oct. 21, 1950, in Laramie, Wyo. The couple later divorced.

Mrs. Rakoff graduated from high school in Tulsa, Okla., and in 1970 received her bachelors degree in elementary education from Parsons College in Fairfield. She later worked extensively toward a masters degree in social work at the University of Iowa. She taught elementary school in Batavia from 1970 to 1973.

Mrs. Rakoff was an income maintenance worker for the Johnson County Department of Human Services, achieving her 25th year of service in 2003. She was a member of Unitarian Universalist Society in Iowa City and was active in the Democratic party in the 1970s. In 1976, she ran for the public office of clerk of court in Jefferson County. She was a supporter and advocate of the Iowa City Animal Shelter and volunteered her time there with her grandchildren.

Survivors include her children, Alan Rakoff and wife Maria Eugenia of Peoria, Ill., Steven Rakoff of Fort Worth, Texas and Tracy Madril husband James of Maputo, Mozambique, Africa; four grandchildren; one sister, Helen Ann Davis of Tulsa, Okla.

Mrs. Rakoff was preceded in death by her parents and one brother, Ray Bryan Miller.

Courtesy of Fairfield Daily Ledger Inc., August 21, 2003