Jefferson Award winner
Rapsard served as Santa to thousands



GUILDERLAND — Kenneth J. Rapsard was a man who made deep and long-lasting commitments — to his work, to his family, to his community.

He died at his Highland Drive home in Guilderland on Friday, Aug. 18, 2006 after a long illness. He was 78.
"His children and grandchildren were able to see him at home before he died," said his daughter, Carol Phillips.
"He really wanted to come home," said his daughter, Patty Busa.

Mr. Rapsard’s loving and jovial personality never wavered, even through a difficult illness, his daughters said.
"Towards the end, his sense of humor was amazing," said Ms. Phillips. "He even joked the day before he passed away. He was optimistic and didn’t complain."
"His last words to me were, ‘Cluck, cluck’," said his daughter, Sharon Waldbillig. She explained, "It was because I was like the mother hen, always tucking the blankets around him. I’d call him my snuggle bunny."
His final advice to his children, recalled Ms. Busa was, "Take care of your mother."
"They were just intertwined," said Ms. Waldbillig of her parents.

Stellar career

Mr. Rapsard was born in Buffalo, the middle of three brothers. His father had come from France when he was 16 and spent his whole working life with the railroad; his mother, from Germany, was a homemaker who sewed her own clothes.

Mr. Rapsard got his first job, when he was 17 and still in high school, working for the New York Telephone Company.

Except for a hitch as a corporal in the United States Army Air Force, where he worked in radar at Eglin Field Proving Grounds in Florida, Mr. Rapsard spent his entire working life at New York Telephone. He worked his way up to be office supervisor and plant manager, and then, in 1964, transferred to Albany and served as staff supervisor until his retirement in 1985.
"Ken’s career with New York Telephone was a stellar one," his friend Robert Wolfgang, said in a tribute. "I found, however, that when speaking about his career, his discussion would usually center on the friendships that developed and it was apparent that those friendships were more important to him than corporate accomplishment or recognition."

Family man

His family was also important to him. He met his wife, Cora Jean, at a wedding. She was living in Texas at the time and he was living in Buffalo.
"They only saw each other three times before they got married," said Ms. Busa.
"They wrote letters," chimed in Ms. Phillips.

The devoted couple eventually settled in Guilderland, on Highland Drive, where they raised their three daughters and two sons.

Always a family man, Mr. Rapsard took special joy in being with his 11 grandchildren, his daughters said.

Mr. Rapsard loved gardening. He grew all sorts of vegetables in his yard and canned them in his kitchen.
"We grew up with spaghetti dinners every Saturday night," said Ms. Busa. "He made the sauce from the tomatoes he canned every fall. We can’t make it like Dad did."
"He gave us the recipe but it doesn’t taste the same," said Ms. Phillips.
"I definitely have his love of gardening," said Ms. Waldbillig. "When he’d transplant seedlings"they are so little, so fragile. He had big hands, but he was so gentle, handling the seedlings."

Mr. Rapsard’s care for children extended beyond his own. He and his wife were foster parents to 53 children through Community Maternity Services.
"They kept a diary for each baby with pictures," said Ms. Phillips.
"So the adoptive mom wouldn’t miss anything," added Ms. Busa.
"He was always there for you," said Ms. Waldbillig. "Whatever you needed, he was there. His kids came first."
She recalled watching her father’s face during her sister’s graduation from nursing school. "One tear rolled down his cheek"He was very supportive and very proud of his kids," said Ms. Waldbillig.

Helping others

Mr. Rapsard also moonlighted as Santa Claus.

He was a life member of the Telephone Pioneers of America, a volunteer organization of telephone company workers. He was also on the board of directors of the Albany Police Athletic League. Mr. Rapsard and Mr. Wolfgang, a former Albany Police chief, started the PAL/Pioneer Toy Program in the 1980’s.
Volunteers recover, repair, and restore once-defective toys provided by a national retailer. "The process began with volunteers picking up the toys from an out-of-state warehouse and transporting them first by U-Haul truck and later by semi-trailers to Albany’s version of the North Pole (a good number of them also found their way to Highland Drive) where Ken and his elves worked 12 months a year, putting their skills to use as they examined the toys, repaired those that could be salvaged, and repackaged the toys," said Mr. Wolfgang.
The first year, 500 toys were distributed; the total has now reached 158,000. "The grandchildren grew up with Grandpa working on toys in the basement," said Ms. Busa.

Mr. Rapsard received several prestigious awards towards the end of his life, including the Mayor’s Award in 2000, the Third Age Achievement Award in 2001, and the Jefferson Award for Albany County in April of 2006.
Mr. Rapsard’s 11-year-old granddaughter wrote his biography this year. For the title of the book about her grandfather, she used something he had told her: "I have lived a very good life; I am pretty lucky."

Simple gifts

Mr. Rapsard’s daughters described their father as quietly religious. He was a communicant of Saint Madeleine Sophie Church, and a former usher and member of the men’s club.
"At the table, we always said grace," recalled Ms. Busa. "Later in life, I realized how spiritual he was."

His daughters recalled how he never missed writing a weekly check to Saint Madeleine Sophie Church.

He enjoyed simple things in life, his daughters said, like fishing, growing tomatoes — or watching butterflies.

They recounted how, when he was in the nursing home, one of his grandsons, active in a butterfly project at Farnsworth Middle School, brought him some Monarch butterfly eggs.
"We had the eggs and the caterpillars at the nursing home," said Ms. Phillips.
"He also had a tomato plant there that went all the way up to the ceiling," said Ms. Busa. Watching television just didn’t interest him, they said.

Nurses and patients alike became interested in Mr. Rapsard’s caterpillars, his daughters said. He watched them daily as the caterpillars turned to chrysalises.

When he returned home, the Monarchs came with him. As they emerged from their chrysalises, they were released.
"They flew away," said Ms. Phillips. "And so did he — the next day."

***

Mr. Rapsard is survived by his wife of 55 years, C.J. (Cora Jean) Rapsard; his five children, Sharon Waldbillig and her husband, Neil, of Ballston Lake; Steve Rapsard and his wife, Nancy, of Latham, Patty Busa of Rotterdam, Carol Phillips and her husband, David, of Guilderland, and Larry Rapsard and his wife, Pamela, of Wisconsin; and 11 grandchildren, Hayley, Lauren, Ashley, Peter, Kayla, Kristin, Brittany, Brendon, Brianna, Elizabeth, and Kevin.

A mass of Christian burial was celebrated on Monday at St. Madeleine Sophie Church in Guilderland. Burial was private in St. Agnes Cemetery in Menands. Arrangements were by DeMarco-Stone Funeral Home.

Memorial contributions may be made to the Police Athletic League Pioneer Toy Program, 165 Henry Johnson Blvd, Albany, NY 12210 or to the Community Hospice of Albany, 445 New Karner Road, Albany, NY 12205.