Obituary of Roderic W. Rahe

Roderic W. Rahe died Wednesday, September 17th while sitting in his favorite chair in his home. He was 87 years old and a resident of Darien, CT for 52 years. Roderic W. Rahe was born in New York City on June 16 1921. His parents, Fern W. Rahe and William J. Rahe, moved to Darien in the late 1940s. Mr. Rahe, who was called Rod by friends and neighbors, graduated in 1939 from Stuyvesant High School, a top-ranked New York City public high school, and a school his father taught at for many years. He attended the Philadelphia School of Textiles and Sciences in Philadelphia, PA. before enlisting in the Navy in 1941. He was chosen for the V12 Officer Training at Ursinus College and then the Midshipman Program at Columbia University before graduating with a commission as a Second Lieutenant in the Navy. He saw action in the Pacific Theater serving as Skipper of the LCT-258. He was stationed at Saipan, an island in the Northern Marianas, for nearly two years where he was part of the American forces preparing to invade Japan. After the war he returned to finish his studies at the Philadelphia School of Textiles and Science majoring in Chemistry. He first worked for the Chemical Division of Swift & Company. When the company moved its Chemical Division to Chicago from New York, he decided to stay in Darien and became Vice President of Sales, responsible for the East Coast, for the Cleveland-based Werner G. Smith Chemical Company. He retired in 2001. In 1952, he married the former Joan Marlowe of Ithaca, New York, a Broadway actress and owner of Proscenium Publications and the editor of the Theater Information Bulletin and the New York Theater Critics Review. He served as the company's business manager, handling accounting and payroll. Together with his wife Joan, they owned a summer home on an island in the Thousand Islands in Ontario, Canada. Maintaining and improving the island was a life long project they shared as a family and one that he cherished. He was an avid tennis player and a former member of the Tokeneke Club. During his time in Darien he served on the Delafield Island Association, and participated in the Senior Men's Association and the DCA. He leaves his son, Roderic Warren Rahe Jr. of Rowayton, CT, and his stepson, Ward Morehouse III of New York City. He also leaves four grandchildren, Madeline Rose Rahe, Christopher Peter Rahe, Samuel Cole Rahe and William Ward Morehouse. He was predeceased by his wife, Joan Marlowe Rahe, who died this past March and a son Christopher who died some years earlier. A memorial service will be held on Saturday, September 27th at 11AM at the Noroton Presbyterian Chapel in Darien, CT. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to the Philadelphia University, c/o Development Office, School House Lane and Henry Avenue, Philadelphia, PA 19144-5497. Funeral Home: Edward Lawrence Funeral Home 2119 Post Road Darien, CT USA 06820