Lorraine Rachal McKinney

Lorraine Rachal McKinney departed this life on Thursday morning, February 26, 2026. She was the oldest daughter born to the late Louis Kenneth Rachal and the late Bertha Lee Primus Rachal in Elizabeth, Louisiana. She moved to Houston, Texas, at age five, where she grew up as a resident of the Historic Fifth Ward. She attended Houston Public Schools and graduated from Kashmere Gardens Junior-Senior High School in 1960. It was at Kashmere where she met her high school sweetheart, the late Frank McKinney, Jr. of Houston, and embarked on a fifty-one-year journey of love, until Frank’s death in 2010.

Lorraine attended Texas Southern University in Houston for three years and was studying to be a nurse. Yet during her third year, she changed directions and decided to pursue administrative opportunities. She completed a program at a secretarial school where she learned skills that she used throughout her life, including her energizing voice as she answered the phone and communicated with staff, patients, and clients for many years. She worked as a secretary with an Episcopal ministry in Houston and soon after joined the staff of Interfaith Ministries (formerly Houston Metropolitan Ministries). She began working as a secretary of the Foster Grandparent Program and later joined the Administrative Staff of Interfaith Ministries as the Payroll/Benefits Manager. She remained at Interfaith Ministries for thirty-nine years, retiring to care for her husband, Frank. In addition, Lorraine also worked in retail at Academy Sports and Outdoors and was on the Administrative Staff at the former MacGregor Medical Association. She enjoyed working as office manager for her daughter’s private podiatry practice and, until her death, worked as the Payroll Coordinator for McKinney Capital Management, a company founded by her son, Frank III.

Lorraine loved the Lord and was baptized at Pilgrim Congregational United Church of Christ in Houston’s Third Ward, and later she joined Holy Cross Lutheran Church, also in Third Ward, as a full-fledged member just prior to marrying Frank. Later, the family joined Trinity Lutheran Church - Downtown, where she was an active member of the Ladies Circle and served as a Stephen Minister. She also served as a Lay Reader for regular Sunday services and other church celebrations, including Christmas and Easter services. Her assertive and robust reading style often left those under her voice mesmerized by the way she read the Word of the Lord. Most recently, she was a member of Immanuel Lutheran Church in Houston’s Heights, where she enjoyed the sermons and Bible study led by her pastor, Rev. Ian Stewart Pacey.

Family was paramount for Lorraine. After being courted by Frank for eight years, they were married on September 3, 1966, and brought forth two children of that union: Lorraine Elizabeth and Frank III. Lorraine often served as a room mother and was also active in the Parent-Teacher League at Trinity-Messiah Lutheran School and was seen regularly accompanying their children to a multitude of extra-curricular activities at Trinity and Lutheran High North. Lorraine celebrated proud moments with their children, including attending Frank III’s Eagle Scout Ceremony, graduation ceremonies of both children from Prairie View A&M University, and Lorraine Elizabeth’s graduation from medical school in New York City. Later in her life, she enjoyed being a grandmother and continued to be the number one fan of her grandchildren as they participated in band concerts, church services, swim meets, and sporting events.

Lorraine was preceded in death by her husband, Frank McKinney, Jr.; parents, Louis Kenneth Rachal and Bertha Lee Primus Rachal; and younger sister, Sandra Lee Rachal Hilliard. She is survived by her youngest sister, Arlene Rachal Sweezer; children, Dr. Lorraine Elizabeth McKinney Williams (Gary) and Frank McKinney, III (Dr. Jacqueline); grandchildren, Gabrielle Lorraine McKinney, Braxton Frank McKinney, Nandi Shani Howard, Caleb Jaburi Howard and Naomi Drew Moore; nephew, William Penn Sweezer-Jankular (Petr); and a host of extended family members and friends.