Margaret Joan Rakas, age 92, peacefully departed this life on November 23, 2024, surrounded by her loving family. A beloved wife, mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother, she was born in Scobey, Montana, on January 16, 1932. When she was one, the family moved to Minneapolis, Minnesota where she and older sister Mary Lou grew up. In 1953, she earned her BA Degree in Biology from the College of St. Catherine, where she was elected to Phi Beta Kappa. She interned for a year in Medical Technology at St. Joseph’s Hospital in St. Paul, becoming a registered medical technologist. She maintained that registry for 50 years.
On December 4, 1955, Margaret married Albert S. Rakas, a Captain in the US army stationed in Japan. That is where her daughters Margaret (Peggy) and Rosemary were born. Margaret loved teaching English to Japanese students at the American Cultural Institute, where she, in turn, loved learning from them about Japanese culture and people. In 1958 the family moved to Chicago, where her son Albert was born.
After her husband retired from the Army in 1971, the family moved to Akron, Ohio. Margaret actively volunteered in the community, devising and implementing a furnishings inventory control method for the University of Akron’s Hower House Museum.
In 1984, the Ohio Association of Historical Societies and Museums honored her work with an Individual Achievement Award. She became an accomplished inventory photographer, working with Hower House to catalog their extensive collection.
Family welfare was paramount to Margaret, who devoted much of her life to caring for her loved ones. She cared for her mother until she died in 1986 while caring for her husband at home until his death in 1988. Following this, she traveled with friends, children, and grandchildren to Europe, Central and South America, and China. But her most treasured retreat was in North Hero, Vermont, where she maintained a summer cabin on Lake Champlain for over 40 years. She created a magical destination for gatherings of family and friends.
While working for private clients, her passion for photography flourished. An eager adopter of new technologies, she taught computer skills to seniors. Margaret lived her last eight years at the Laurel Lake Retirement Community in Hudson, Ohio, where she was deeply grateful for the staff and community. The dedicated and hard-working people in dining, laundry, housekeeping, maintenance, reception, wellness, activities, security, transportation, health aides, nurses and others became more than staff to her. They became friends. But above all, she felt incredibly blessed by the remarkable friendships she formed with residents at Laurel Lake.
She is survived by her children, Peggy (Rick Krahn) Rakas, Rose Rakas, and Al Rakas (Laurel); her grandchildren — Leann Krahn, Julie Rakas, Sara Rakas, Kari Hildreth (Jake), Kristin (Alex) Rosenberg, and Lilly Rakas; and her great grandchildren, Kate Hildreth and Penny Rosenberg.
She will be missed.
Contributions in Margaret’s memory may be made to: Conservancy for Cuyahoga Valley National Park https://www.conservancyforcvnp.org/donate/honormemorial-gift/ or The Laurel Lake Foundation (https://www.laurellake.org/donations)
A Celebration of Life will take place on November 30th at the Laurel Lake Retirement Community, in the Community Room, at 200 Laurel Lake Drive, Hudson Ohio, 44236. A reception begins at 1:30 for a service at 2 pm. Inurnment will be at a future date at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Virginia. Arrangements by Johnson-Romito Funeral Home, Hudson, OH. www.johnsonromito.com