Ann Marie Rawles

Ann Marie Rawles was an intelligent and agile thinker who valued knowledge, kept track of current events, and viewed the world with curiosity and compassion. An alumni of Xavier University in New Orleans, she taught English and math in the Los Angeles public and Catholic schools. Education was her passion. Always the most reasonable person around, she was guided by an elevated sense of ethics and an unswerving regard for justice.

At Xavier, she found a kindred soul in Manfred, her husband of 33 years and the love of her life. Together, they formed a strong and steadfast bond. After college, they moved to Philadelphia, where they lived for six years before joining relatives and friends in Los Angeles. First in Watts and then in Crenshaw, they raised five children to be good people. When Ann was widowed at the age of 55, she carried on with insight and grace.

Devoted to her extensive Louisiana family, she taught her children and grandchildren to value their culture and history. She loved her friends. Her church community was an anchor in times of joy and sorrow; as a longtime lector at Transfiguration Catholic Church, she shared her clarity of voice and spirit. A resident of Leimert Park for fifty years, she enjoyed her neighbors, was widely admired by the friends of her children, and appreciated people of different cultures when that wasn't the thing to do. Born in Baton Rouge, Louisiana on July 14, 1931, Ann Marie was the oldest child of Theodore and Mabel Darensbourg. She is survived by her sisters Jerry (Charles) Domingue and Fay (A.P.) Tureaud, and by her brothers Donald (Marcy) and Gerard (Charlene). She was preceded in death by her husband Manfred and her daughter-in-law Lisa. She leaves behind her children, Michael, Nancy, David (Renee), Robin, and Stephen (Nektaria), and grandchildren, Lauren, Jessica, Gabrielle, Erica, Nadine, Brian, Danielle, Michael, and Jason. Ann died on May 17, 2016 at the age of 84. Her radiant presence will be missed by all who loved and cherished her.

The family asks that anyone wishing to make a donation in Ann's name send a gift to Xavier University of New Orleans, Institutional Advancement, 1 Drexel Drive, Box 66, New Orleans, Louisiana 70125-1098. Xavier is an Historically Black University founded by St. Katherine Drexel and the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament in 1915. Services held at Transfiguration Catholic Church in Los Angeles. Internment at Holy Cross Cemetery.