Fred L. Raffel of Mequon died of heart failure Nov. 14. He was 84.
Born in Chicago, Raffel moved to Wisconsin as a child. He graduated from Shorewood High School in 1942 and attended Marquette University for one semester.
He then became a fighter pilot in the U.S. Army Air Corps during World War II. He was wounded on March 4, 1945 in Belgium and was awarded a Purple Heart and an Air Medal.
After the war, he attended the University of Wisconsin-Madison and earned a Bachelor of Business Administration degree in 1948.
For 35 years, he worked as a furniture dealer at The Mart in Greenfield and Brookfield, a business that his father started. Then from 1985 to 2004 he was employed at Business Brokers, handling the buying and selling of businesses.
He was a member of Zeta Beta Tau, the nation’s first Jewish fraternity, and had been a member of Congregation Shalom and its Men’s Club. He also belonged to the Greenfield Chamber of Commerce and served as its president in 1974.
Raffel’s special interests included photography, World War II fighter planes, hiking, animals, figure skating and cross-country skiing, his family said.
He is survived by wife Joyce Raffel (nee Abrams); sons William (Rosie) Raffel of Whitefish Bay, Kim (Lynn) Raffel of Sussex, Robert (Christi Jost) Raffel of Colgate, and James (Cheryl) Raffel of Sussex; daughter Caroline (Richard) Mandel of Mequon; and nine grandchildren.
Blane Goodman Funeral Service, LLC, handled the funeral and burial arrangements. Rabbi David Cohen officiated at services Nov. 17. Burial was in Greenwood Cemetery.
Memorial contributions to Columbia St. Mary’s Cancer Program are appreciated by the family.
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