Raquel Weiner

Raquel (Rickie) was born in Cuba, in 1929, while her parents were living there waiting to get visas to get into the United States. Her parents were in Cuba for a total of 14 years, having come from Russia. They finally were able to come to the US when she was 8 years old. She rapidly learned English, being her second language, and grew up in the Bronx.

Raquel attended Hunter College, majoring in Spanish and minor in business. She worked doing bookkeeping, generally accounts receivables, at various companies. She met and married Seymour in 1954 after he had come back from serving as a navigator in the Air Force in both WW2 and the Korean War. She stopped working so they could spend as much time as possible together, as he was doing shift work for the NYC police department before becoming an instructor in the Police Academy.

She was always there for family, including her parents. Her father, Herman Bronstein, lived to the age of 98 and passed in 1995. She was with Seymour full-time after his retirement from the federal government when he was about 61, and later was a dedicated caretaker for Seymour during his later years when he was suffering with various ailments until he passed at age 89 in 2015.

She raised 2 children, Steven and Richard, and only went back to work part-time so that she was always home when they were not in school. They attended Cornell, and the University of Pennsylvania. Steven became an industrial and software engineer, and navigator in the Air National Guard serving in two wars. Richard became an orthopedic trauma and joint surgeon.

Raquel has been happy living in Watercrest mostly independent (other than medication administration), going down to the dining room and activities on her own for the past 6 years. She was a great cook, and enjoyed making meals for family and guests most of her life. She was very healthy until the last couple months, and used to play tennis and swim regularly in her younger years. She also loved taking care of her fish aquarium, playing ping pong, as well as bowling for a number of years.

Her daughter-in-laws are Lynn and Lisa. Her grandchildren are Cara, Lauren, Robyn, Janice, Bari, Jenna, and Jake. Her great grandchildren are Saylor, Emmy, and Liam.