Jari Rapaport

Jari Rapaport died peacefully on September 6, 2025 at The Terraces Orleans, after 100 richly fulfilling years of life, beloved by everyone who knew her.
Born in Detroit, Michigan on October 25, 1924, and named Mary Jean by her parents Edwin and Mary (Brown) Cunliffe. An only child, Mary Jean never lacked playmates in her close knit Rosedale Gardens neighborhood, and she relished summer gatherings in Indiana with a crowd of cousins. Out of financial necessity during the Depression her family moved to New Jersey to live with her beloved uncle Rex, who helped instill within her a passion for civic involvement and devotion to helping those in need. That is where, on a street with two other girls named Mary, she became nicknamed, “Jari”. An excellent student, Jari graduated from Highland Park High School at age 16 and in 1945 graduated from New Jersey College for Women (later renamed Douglass College). While in college she served as a USO Hostess at nearby Camp Kilmer where she conversed and danced with soldiers about to ship off to Europe. Dozens of letters Jari kept from soldiers she corresponded with are pieces of WWII history. By the mid-1940s Jari began a career in social welfare at renowned settlement houses, the Hull House in Chicago, Illinois, and the East Side Settlement House in New York City. Following these formative experiences, she enrolled at Columbia University and obtained an MA Sociology degree in 1953. In her pursuit of meaningful work, she found employment at the New York City Youth Board and later the Citizens’ Committee for Children of NY, plus volunteer work for the Committee on Civil Rights in Manhattan and the Brooklyn Heights Open Housing Committee. Jari’s simple credo was to ‘make the system work better’ for all. Jari had the quintessential New York City life for 20 years - numerous addresses & roommates, a bathroom run-in with Eleanor Roosevelt and the belief that it was ‘the most exciting place in the world.’ Her first venture abroad was in 1957. She navigated England, France, Italy, and Greece on her own while she and fiancé Bernard Rapaport sent notes of endearment via Western Union telegram. They married on November 20, 1957, and had two boys while living in Brooklyn Heights. In 1965 they moved to Hastings-on-Hudson, NY and shortly added a girl to the family. Hastings was home for the next 28 busy years that were punctuated by special annual family trips to her retired parents’ home in Carthage, NC and summer vacations in Wellfleet, MA. Jari earned a Master of Social Work degree from Adelphi University in 1984 amid her two-decade career as Director of Advocacy at Family Services of Westchester where she was known for her leadership on issues related to children, seniors, and affordable housing. In 1993 shortly after Jari and Bernie moved into their new home in Eastham, MA, Bernie died at age 68. Jari was embraced by her brand-new community in the wake of her loss and always remarked that she had landed in the best place. Her third act was filled with extensive international travels (several with daughter Annie), holidays and summer visits with her children and grandchildren, her annual Labor Day and Christmas parties, walks along the Cape Cod Rail Trail, and swims across Depot Pond. On the Cape she continued into her 90s to be engaged with the issues that mattered to her, serving on several boards or as a volunteer with the League of Women Voters, the Cape Cod Foundation, the Community Development Partnership, Lower Cape Outreach, Mass Audubon, and the Nauset Fellowship. A testament to the many relationships Jari made during her Eastham chapter of life was evident by the packed room at her 100th birthday party. To the end, Jari retained her core qualities that endeared her to those who knew her, a genuine interest in others, and the gift of gratitude. She often expressed that her life was the most interesting she could imagine and that she would not have done anything differently. Wherever she lived it was the best place she could be, she had the best friends and family she could ask for, and each dessert was always the best ever.
She was predeceased by her husband Bernard D. Rapaport, and is survived by her children David (Jeanne Kirby), Michael (Cara Simone), and Annie, and by grandchildren Roxanne Rapaport (Rob Dubinski), Cosmo Rapaport, Miles Rapaport, Juliet Rapaport, Giovanna Bader,  and Cole Bader.
In lieu of flowers or gifts, the family requests contributions in memory of Jari Rapaport be made to the Homeless Prevention Council, PO Box 828 Orleans, MA 02653 (www.hpccapecod.org).