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Shortly after midnight on June 6, Dr. Maurice F. Rabb Jr. succumbed to cancer. He died at home surrounded by his loving wife and two sons. He survived one day past his 39th wedding anniversary, a milestone he purposely achieved by sheer willpower and undying love for his wife, partner and muse, Madeline Murphy Rabb. He was 72.
Dr. Maurice F. Rabb Jr. was born in Shelbyville, Ky., on Aug. 7, 1932, to Dr. Maurice F. Rabb Sr., a family practitioner and civil rights activist, and Mrs. Jewel Miller Rabb, a fellow activist and math teacher, of Columbus, Miss., and Louisville, Ky., respectively. At age 14, he and a fellow Black youth represented the region comprising the states of Ohio, Michigan and Kentucky at the Boy Scout World Jamboree in Paris, France. At 15, he traveled across the country alone by train, visiting Los Angeles, Tijuana (Mexico), San Francisco, Seattle and Minneapolis. These trips ushered in a lifelong wanderlust and passion for travel and photography.
At 16, he graduated from Central Colored High School, where his mother was a member of the faculty. He matriculated at the University of Indiana in Bloomington because his home institution, the University of Louisville, remained segregated. After two years, he entered the University of Louisville when it desegregated, and became one of the first African Americans admitted to the College of Arts and Sciences, where he earned a bachelor's degree in biology. Dr. Rabb attended medical school at the University of Louisville School of Medicine, and graduated in 1958. He did his ophthalmology residency at the University of Illinois at Chicago.
At the University of Illinois, Dr. Rabb served as chief resident in 1963. Dr. Rabb was the first African-American resident and chief resident at the institution. In 1964 in Chicago, Dr. Rabb met his wife-to-be, the artist Madeline Wheeler Murphy of Baltimore, Md., daughter of Judge William H. Murphy and Madeline Wheeler Murphy. The two wed in 1966, and their union was blessed with two sons, Maurice III and Christopher Murphy Rabb.
Please accept my condolences on the loss of your father. I hope that you can find some solace in the magnitude and magnificence of his legacy. You and your family are in my prayers.
Posted by: Kim Pearson | Wednesday, June 15, 2005 at 08:32 AM
Thank you for a very moving obituary of your father. You can be proud that he blazed so many trails for others to follow, that he did so much to help his patients, that he fought so hard against his cancer, and that his love your mother was so enduring and inspiring.
Losing a parent at any age is difficult. May the memories of all he meant to you and your family console you in the days and years ahead.
Posted by: Rep. Mark B. Cohen | Monday, June 13, 2005 at 07:45 PM