_:n22c65ed2fda149e98c2351ac53e4c35fxb0
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"&lt;p&gt;Life Story, Lois Quirk Racz&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Lois Quirk Racz, age 96, died peacefully in her residence in Kendal at Ithaca on September 8,&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;2023. Her passion for life, art, music, and social justice, was well known and deeply appreciated&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;by family members and friends.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Born in Mineola, New York, Ms. Racz graduated from Middlebury College and later studied at&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Teachers College, Columbia University where she obtained a Master’s degree in Education and&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style=&quot;text-align: left;&quot;&gt;taught in Westchester County on Long Island. Lois married William (Bill) Racz on June 1, 1956&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;and they lived busy lives in Manhattan. For many years she was a case worker at the Hospital for&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Special surgery in New York city and was active in the Presbytery of New York in a small group&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;that founded Presbyterian Senior Services. She became a Board Member when the group&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;incorporated and later moved to a staff position. While the couple lived in Manhattan, Lois spent&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;summers, joined by Bill on the weekends, on Cape Cod at a huge old Captain’s house that they&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;had purchased in the late 1950’s. They moved permanently Brewster, MA, in 1970.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Lois and her husband, William (Bill) Racz (1919-1999) spent many happy decades on Cape Cod&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;in a variety of activities. They lovingly restored Captain’s house in Brewster over a period of&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;years. The Juniper Hill Bed and Breakfast on Route 6A was loved by generations of guests who&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;came to know and care about Lois and Bill over the years. Family members also enjoyed Juniper&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Hill on regular visits. Fascinating books in the gracious library, paths through an adjoining&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;forest, homemade carrot bread, and lively conversations with their hosts drew guests (who&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;became friends) back year after year to the gracious and welcoming property.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;While in Brewster Lois served as a Board Member of the League of Women Voters of the Lower&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Cape, was a director of the Brewster Ladies Library in the 70’s, and a member of what would&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;now be called a “sustainability committee” which ultimately brought a recycling center to town.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;She was a charter member of the Cape Museum of Fine Arts and other organizations such as&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Common Cause and People for the American Way.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Lois and Bill Racz were proud and engaged sponsors of a Vietnam refugee family in 1980. From&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;the family’s arrival at Logan Airport (two parents and four young children), Lois and Bill&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;worked tirelessly to make sure they had housing, food, educational, employment and social&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;opportunities. Lifelong friendships of mutual respect and love developed between the&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Vietnamese family and their USA sponsors.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;An additional avocation for Lois was that for many years she presented art history talks both on&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;and off the Cape in lifelong learning programs, churches, and libraries. When offered&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;remuneration for these talks Lois donated all of the proceeds to Heifer International in Rutland&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;MA where she served on Northeast Committee for a number of years. She was also an active&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;member of the Federated Church of Orleans.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;After decades on the Cape, Lois moved to The Overlook Retirement Community in Charlton,&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;MA where she lived for several years. Following that she moved to Kendal at Ithaca in February,&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;2013 to be closer to family members. She slowed down a little from her most active years, but&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;continued to expand her knowledge and stay involved with art history, music, birding, politics,&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;non-profit and social justice organizations. For several years Lois played the piano and lead sing-&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;alongs at in the Kendal community with her lively repertoire of the oldies… the real oldies!&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Surviving her are her nephew and nieces (Allen Quirk, Bronwyn Mohlke, Ithaca, NY, Priscilla&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Quirk, Charleston, SC, Becky Quirk, Nelson, British Columbia), their spouses, grand nephews&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;and nieces and one great grandniece. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to Heifer&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style=&quot;text-align: left;&quot;&gt;International. https://www.heifer.org/, a link can be found below.&lt;/p&gt;"
<https://www.centralnewyorkcremationservice.com/obituaries/Lois-Quirk-Racz?obId=28954665>