Edward Francis Raftery

Edward (Ed) Francis Raftery, our much loved father, grandfather, and brother, passed away in Las Vegas on July 22, 2015 at age 82. Born July 17, 1933, in Chicago, Illinois, he was raised in Oak Park, Illinois, with his sister Mary Raftery. He graduated from Fenwick High School and the University of Illinois Pharmacy School in Chicago and then served in the United States Navy at Glenview Naval Air Station. Ed and his wife Geraldine (Gerri) were married on August 31, 1957, and then moved to Arlington Heights, Illinois. Ed and Gerri owned drugstores throughout the Chicago area for many years, including in Wheeling, Antioch, and their last store, Gerri's Mayfair Drugs, in Chicago. They moved to Las Vegas in 1990, where Ed continued to work as a pharmacist into his 70s. Ed was known for his phlegmatic attitude toward life and for advising his family to "take it easy" and face life "one day at a time." He also had a daredevil and fun-loving streak, though, and was always happy to indulge his children and grandchildren in activities ranging from horseback riding to sledding in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, to visiting the Grand Canyon. He rode in a glider, and took his granddaughter on a hot air balloon ride, but drew the line at parasailing in Hawaii. Ed was known for his sardonic sense of humor, his quick wit, and his wry and accurate observations on people and life. He was civic and politically minded, and treated everyone with fairness and courtesy in both his professional and private lives. He was a doting grandfather to his grandchildren, who knew they could rely on Papa to take them in the pool, get them ice cream and read to them. He was preceded in death on May 29 by his wife Gerri. He will be greatly missed, especially by his daughters, Becky, Kelly and Julie; his sons-in-law Russ Marsh, Cameron Bomstad, and Marat Musaev; his sister Mary; his three nephews; and most of all by his four grandchildren, Jessica, Matthew, Adam, and Bradley.