Ronald Francis Rapacz

Ronald Francis (Ron) Rapacz died peacefully in his home on December 10 th (his 78th birthday) after being diagnosed with metastatic pancreatic cancer. His loving wife, son, and daughter were with him bedside as he completed his earthly journey.

Born on December 10, 1946 in Warren, MN to Anton & Eleanor Rapacz. The 2 nd of ten children. The family moved to Seattle in 1956 and that is where Ron grew up, although he never forgot his Minnesota ties. A lot of the family remained in Minnesota and North Dakota and Ron always made an effort to maintain those relationships.

Ron graduated from Sealth High School in 1965 and went to work at Safeway before enlisting in the Navy. He served in the US Navy from February ’66 until February ’68 as a Gunners Mate where he was awarded a National Defense Service Medal and a Vietnam Service Medal.

Ron met the love of his life, Vicki Rebar on Christmas Eve 1964. Upon returning from military service, he promptly married Vicki on June 15 th 1968 and they settled in West Seattle where they would remain and raise their family.

Ron and Vicki welcomed their first child, Dan, in March of ‘70 followed by their daughter Keri in October of ‘73.

Ron worked in Management for Kmart stores from 1968 until 1978. Several people who he met during those years remained lifelong friends. When Ron realized that a career path at Kmart meant uprooting and moving his family every few years, he made the decision to quit the company and venture into a career in real estate that would allow him to keep his family firmly planted in West Seattle. He got his real estate license and went to work at Ron Turner Realty where he became a top producing broker and spent the first 12 years of his career. In 1990 he moved over to another local brokerage, Cayce & Gain where he continued to thrive and spent the next 25 years before finally moving over to Re/Max to finish his remaining years in the business.

Ron became an expert in real estate and was passionate about helping people. Many of his clients became like family to him and he helped generations of families with their most important investments. The relationship was always the most important for him.

Family was a huge part of, and priority in Ron’s life. His wife, kids and grandchildren; his parents, brothers and sisters; his aunts, uncles and cousins (both locally and Midwest); his nieces and nephews, all contributed to the great joy he had in his life. He loved family get togethers large and small especially the ones with live music and hours of Pinochle games. He always made time to help those who needed it and to maintain and nurture those relationships.

Ron’s other passion was fishing, and he loved sharing that passion with others. Nothing made him happier than spending time on the water with those he loved. He got special delight in teaching the kids to fish and taking out his Minnesota and Montana relatives out salmon fishing. He was affectionately given the nickname Capt’n Ron (though there is still some debate about who coined that first).

The biggest source of joy for Ron these last 21 years was being Papa to his granddaughters Taylor (’03) and Reilley (’06). He absolutely adored them and loved babysitting, taking them fishing, attending their dance recitals and soccer games and really doing just about anything with them.

Ron is survived by his loving wife of 56 years, Vicki; their two children Dan (Camille) Rapacz and Keri (Mike) Schindler; sisters Janell (Tom) Neklason, Sue (Roy) Willanger, Christie Rapacz; his brother Tom Rapacz; his two granddaughters Taylor Schindler and Reilley Schindler; Sisters-in-law Terri (Hilary) Rebar, Debbi (Joel) Midkiff and brother-in-law Bob (Marcy) Rebar. He was predeceased by his parents, brothers Gary, Myron, Rick, Jim and sister Linda.

A Celebration of life will be held on January 9, 2024 at 11:00am at Holy Rosary Church in West Seattle. 4139 42nd Ave SW, Seattle, WA 98116