Darlene Brown Raat

DARLENE BROWN RAAT 1938-2017 Beloved mother and grandmother Darlene Brown Raat, 78, passed away peacefully with her daughters at her bedside on Monday, July 17, 2017 in Laguna Woods, California. She had been critically ill and hospitalized for several weeks – bravely battling through a heart attack, pulmonary emboli, and several other heart disease-related conditions. Born August 26, 1938 in Logan, Utah, Darlene went on to graduate from BYU in 1961 and pursue a career in personnel management. After a three-year stint at the Personnel Office of The City of Ogden, Utah, Darlene made the bold move of accepting the position of Personnel Director for the City of Newport Beach, California. Darlene looked back on this relocation and career change as one of the most pivotal decisions of her life. As the first female Personnel Director of any city in Orange County, she proudly paved the way for other women to work in a profession that was very much male-dominated in the 1960s and ‘70s. Soon after celebrating a decade of employment with the City of Newport Beach, Darlene joined the County of Orange, California, at which she held several positions before retiring in 1998. Quick to offer her big beautiful smile and a kind word to everyone she met, Darlene will be sorely missed. So many of the friendships she formed while working at the County of Orange remained strong throughout her life. More recently, while living at Regents Point in Irvine, California, these last six years, Darlene enjoyed brunch get-togethers with friends, volunteering at the Country Store, and serving on various resident committees. She is survived by her daughters, Amy Josten and Emily Gombos, and her grandsons, Evan Josten, Trevor Josten, and Henry Gombos. Darlene was preceded in death by her husband, Kenneth Ralph Raat, in 1995.