OBITUARY FROM HILL & WOOD FUNERAL HOME (CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA) WEBSITE:
Rae M. Black, 99, of Charlottesville, Va., died February 15, 2023. She was the daughter of the late Wellington Bruce Mitchell and Mary Blaemire Mitchell. Rae was predeceased by her husband Joe, 2012, and her son Chris, 2015. Rae is survived by her daughter, Mary Jo and son-in-law, Tom Bateman of Maine; three grandchildren: Lauren of Maine, T.J. and his partner Melissa Woods of Charlottesville, and James and his wife, Rinska Carrasco of Chicago, and her great-granddaughter, Ashana of Chicago.
Rae was born in Chicago, Ill. in 1923, the youngest of three children. At age 10, Rae’s family moved to Hobart, Ind. At the age of 16, Rae left to attend DePaul University in Greencastle, Ind. She graduated with a degree in sociology and began to work at Gary National Bank upon graduation from college. Magic happened when a friend of Rae’s, Winnie, introduced her cousin, Joe Black, who had recently returned from serving in World War II, to Rae. Rae and Joe were married in December, 1946 and for a short time lived in a 12' trailer, in Bloomington, Ind., while Joe finished his degree.
Rae and Joe went on to have two children, and by 1963 had settled in Gary, Ind., where Rae worked as a social worker for the Gary Public Schools, and Joe was an assistant principal at Lew Wallace HS. After Rae retired in 1988, she and Joe moved to Chapel Hill, N.C., to live near and enjoy their three grandchildren. Later, when Joe’s health began to decline, Rae and Joe moved to Charlottesville, Va., where their daughter and her family were then living.
Rae was a force to be reckoned with- she loved her family, her friends, was an amazing bridge player, loved to dance, loved entertaining, and even enjoyed the odd game of golf. Rae was fiercely independent, brilliant, worked crossword puzzles daily, and loved British mysteries. Rae also loved to travel! In 1967 Rae and Joe rented an RV to drive the family from Gary to Montreal for Expo ’67- so new were the RV’s, they were flagged down at bus stops when people mistook the RV for their local bus. For their 25th wedding anniversary, Rae and Joe saved for a couple of years to take the family on a cruise on the QEII. Although rare, the vacations they took were truly memorable. In 1976, Rae took her first trip to Europe to visit her daughter who was studying abroad that year in France. In 2013, she made one of her last trips to Europe with her daughter and granddaughter.
Hill and Wood Funeral Home of Charlottesville is providing cremation services.
This information was obtained from: https://www.hillandwood.com/obituaries/Rae-M-Black?obId=27344466.
PICTURE FROM ANCESTRY.COM:
This picture was obtained from: https://www.ancestry.com/family-tree/person/tree/15008466/person/225979730/gallery?galleryPage=1&tab=gallery&sort=-created. Rae is on the left.