William H. Raschke

William H. Raschke 2/13/1915 – 12/20/2006 William H. Raschke died December 20, 2006 after a long illness. Born in Brenham, he attended the University of Texas at Austin earning BBA and MBA degrees. At U.T. he was an elected officer in 22 student service organizations, President of Shangri-La Co-op, a Goodfellow and founder of the Student Cooperative Association, the first U.T. food co-op. In 1944 he married Jewel Popham, a wonderful union that produced three children and lasted 41 years until her death. After college he established and managed the Cooperative Student Business Service that provided accounting services to U.T. co-ops, fraternities and sororities. For his work supporting cooperative housing for women at U.T., he was inducted into the NASCO Campus Cooperative Hall of Fame. He has been an active participant in community service, serving as President of the Downtown Austin Lions Club, District Governor for Lions District 2-S3, Chairman of the Board of the Austin-area American Cancer Society, the first chairman of the Great American Smokeout in Austin, twice President of the Austin Knife and Fork Club, and multiple terms as President of the PTA of his children’s schools. He organized the first Nursing Home Games in Austin in 1973 and co-chaired the games for years. He also was instrumental in founding the Lions Eye Bank and contributed time and effort to numerous other service projects. He has received the Lions Club Extension Award for establishing 20 new clubs in Texas, the Harry Reasonover Award, the highest award in the District for Lions Club service, and lifetime membership on the Board of the Austin-area American Cancer Society. Until his recent hospitalization he actively participated as a member of the Friends of the U.T. M.D. Anderson Science Park Research Center at Smithville. For more than sixty years he has been an active member of the First United Methodist Church in Austin. In addition to Bill Raschke’s commitment to community service, he is especially remembered for his integrity, moral values, and his generous, kind, and uplifting spirit. He had an incredibly sharp wit and mind. He touched many people in his life. He had a strong faith and was a loving husband and father and devoted friend. His most characteristic trait was his caring for his family and others. Thank you to all the family and friends who have been so supportive of him and his family throughout his life and especially during these last months. He is survived by his wife of the past 20 years, Birdie Eva Raschke, his children, William C. Raschke, Erin Hawkins, Lesa Walker and his grandchildren, Kelly and Kristine Hawkins, David Walker, Nathan and Bryn Raschke. The family will receive friends from 5:00-7:00 p.m. on Friday, December 22, 2006 and from 1:00-2:00 p.m. on Saturday, December 23, 2006 at Weed-Corley-Fish Funeral Home. Services will be held on Saturday, December 23, 2006 at 2:00 p.m. in the Weed Corley-Fish Chapel, 3125 North Lamar. Burial will follow the service at the Cook-Walden Capital Parks Cemetery in Pflugerville. Contributions in Mr. Raschke’s memory may be made to the Jewel Popham Raschke Endowed Presidential Scholarship in Mathematics Education (Office of the Dean, College of Education, University of Texas, 1 Union Station D5000, Austin, TX 78712) or the U.T. M.D. Anderson Cancer Center (Science Park – Research Division, PO Box 389, Smithville, TX 78957). Obituary and guestbook online at wcfish.com