Audre Rapoport

Audre Rapoport used to refer to herself as the “caboose” on the train of her husband, Bernard Rapoport. But over their 70 years of marriage, friends and family knew her as a pillar of strength and grace, an equal partner in their decades of accomplishment and the only person who could beat him regularly at dominoes. Audre died Monday afternoon at the age of 92. Her graveside service is 12:00 noon, Thursday, April 7, 2016 at Rodef Sholom Cemetery. She was born on July 8, 1923 in Chicago to Leon Newman and Waco-native Josephine Newman nee Goodman. She and her mother came back to Waco in 1926, and thenceforth Audre was a loyal Wacoan. Audre grew up in a home with her mother and grandmother, Bess Goodman. Josephine worked as a hairdresser to support the household of women, and Audre’s uncle, Dr. Aubrey Goodman, stopped by each morning. Audre was the only girl to study geometry in her class at Waco High. She graduated in 1941 and attended the University of Texas in the fall. At that time, her goal was to be on the radio. Instead she met a young jewelry salesman from San Antonio. They went on one blind date, during which they argued about whether girls could wear eye shadow. She asked to be taken home. The next morning, he came with gardenias, her favorite, and asked her to marry him. A month later, February 14, 1942, Audre became Mrs. Bernard Rapoport. Together, Bernard and Audre embarked on two journeys—one to establish financial success, the other to promote and champion progressive causes. They started a jewelry store in partnership with Audre’s mother and step-father. When they refused to deal in black market goods, the store failed, and they spent the next year working in auction houses. Meanwhile, they campaigned together for Homer Rainey. Audre block-walked the county in the summer heat and ran the campaign office. “I had a full-time job during that campaign,” she used to say. “I loved it.” In their tiny home, they entertained radical writers like John Dos Passos and Sinclair Lewis. Whether she had a dollar or a thousand, Audre was always a gracious and glamorous hostess. In 1947, they had their son, Ronald B. Rapoport, whom they both adored. Audre, who loved to brag about her little vices, took little Ronnie to racetracks and night clubs. She offered him sips of her cocktails when he was three years old. He learned his first math lessons at Churchill Downs, figuring out the gambling odds. With $25,000 from Audre’s uncle, Harold Goodman, the Rapoports started what became American Income Life Insurance, the company that would both give them their wealth and their opportunity to give back to the town they both loved so much. The success of the company came when it started selling policies primarily to labor unions—for which Audre deserved much of the credit. Always charming, when Texas AFL-CIO President Hank Brown first arrived at their house, he found Audre on the floor, fixing the toilet. A plumber by training, Brown joined her in fixing the pipes—and thus a long-time friendship began. Brown opened the door to the Rapoports’ entrance on the national labor stage. Even as a inseparable team, Bernard and Audre didn’t always agree. When Bernard decided to back Maury Maverick for an open U.S. Senate seat in 1961, Audre and Ronnie took umbrage that he wasn’t supporting their longtime friend Congressman Jim Wright. Without relying words, Audre always had a way of making her feelings known when she was displeased. Family harmony was only restored when Maverick’s candidacy didn’t cost Wright the election. Later, she proudly supported George McGovern’s presidential run while her husband supported Edmond Muskey. Once again, both candidates lost, but Audre treasured a framed telegram McGovern sent her on the night of the New Hampshire primary. Perhaps most significantly, because of her love of Waco, Audre was the one who insisted the family and the company return to Waco in 1956 after Audre and Bernard had spent five years in Indiana building American Income. As time went on, the Rapoports befriended activists and politicians throughout Texas and the country. Bernard and Audre frequently went to Washington and brought major politicians to their home in Waco that Audre designed in 1956. Meanwhile business at American Income soared. Always budget-conscious, Audre’s habits did not change as the Rapoports gained wealth. Instead, she discovered that she could find bargain clothes for cheaper than she could make them, a fascination was born that would last a lifetime. She started her bargain hunting at S. Klein’s in New York and later became a veteran of Loehmann’s back rooms throughout the country. She stayed in touch with managers and salespeople, sending presents at the holidays and always asking after their families. She was such an intrepid shopper—for shoes in particular—she once gathered so many shoes that she to take a service elevator out of Neiman’s clearance sale. (“Nineteen dollars a pair!” she would say for years afterwards.) While Bernard devoted himself to a multitude of causes, for Audre, Planned Parenthood always held a special place. She was passionate about women’s healthcare and worried frequently that women might see their rights diminished. In 1987, the Rapoports started the Bernard and Audre Rapoport Foundation, stipulating that at least one-third of its gifts stay in Waco to help the community that helped them so much. After Bernard’s death in 2012, Audre embraced a more public face. She went into the foundation offices regularly and attended events. In 2014, upon hearing the local spelling bee might be forced to close down for lack of funds, Audre insisted on sending $5,000 so the children might go on to the Scripps National Spelling Bee. In her later life, Audre devoted herself to Ronnie, his wife Patricia and her granddaughters, Abby and Emily. She wasn’t like a typical grandmother— rather than cooking, Audre attributed her longevity to her sacred “cocktail hour” at 5 o’clock and Stouffer’s frozen dinners. She dressed in designer jeans, and loved to take her granddaughters shopping at her beloved bargain stores. She had two great-grandchildren, Lewis, age 11 and Bina, age 9 months, and loved to find toys at Toys R Us. In the last few weeks, she enjoyed reminiscing about her remarkable life. “Not bad,” she’d say, “for a little girl from Waco, Texas.” The family invites you to leave a message or memory in our “Memorial Guestbook” at www. WHBfamily.com.