Bernard Rausch

Bernard A. Rausch, age 95, of Kennett Square, Pennsylvania, passed away on May 13, 2022 at Jenner's Pond in West Grove, Pennsylvania.

Bernard A. Rausch (Bernie) was born September 8, 1926 in Brooklyn, New York to Etta Rausch (nee Appelbaum) and Irving Rausch; he was the eldest of 3 sons Frank (deceased, 1985) and S. Richard. Sadly, his father passed away in April, 1939 from an infection - if it had been just one year later, 1940, the newly available drug Penicillin could have saved Irving's life.

As a result, Bernie, not quite 13, began his working life while attending school, visiting his local shul daily to say Kaddish for his father and helping his mother care for his two younger brothers, then 11 and 2. Not only could you tell Bernie was something special by virtue of his character, his intellect was also plain to see as he graduated from Boy's High in Brooklyn at the age of 16. While working full time, he pursued his undergraduate degree in Chemical Engineering from the City University of New York in the evening and, nearly 10 years after he began, graduated in 1951 all the while ensuring his family was cared for and that youngest brother Richard became Bar Mitzvah that same year.

Bernie, now designing explosive trains for guided missiles for the Department of Defense, enrolled in Stevens Institute of Technology to earn his masters in Chemical Engineering and, while working and going to school, met the love of his life Camille (nee Schaffel) on a blind date in Mt. Freedom, New Jersey in the summer of 1953. "Forbidden" to marry until she graduated nursing school, Bernie and Camille married in April of 1955; Bernie received his master's degree later that same year.

Bernie and Camille moved to Delaware where Bernie began a long and successful business career starting at DuPont where he became a patent holder. While there he worked in chemical engineering, market development, sales and new product marketing. His professional journey then took him to Newmont Mining Corporation where he managed corporate development and marketing research. In 1978 Bernie moved his family to Palatine, Illinois to take on strategic planning, new product development and business plan development for the Signode Division of Illinois Tool Works.

From time-to-time Bernie lectured at the University of Wisconsin Management Institute, De Paul University and the Keller Graduate School. Internationally he lectured in Mexico City, Monterrey, Guadalajara, and China (Nanjing Institute of Science and Technology). He also presented seminars in Dubai, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia. In the mid-1980s Bernie opened his own firm, Camber Business Strategy Consultants (Camber being both an amalgam of his wife's name and his as well as a slight upward curve signaling growth) providing advisory services aimed at assisting organizations to achieve their full potential. At the same time he became a lecturer at the Stuart Graduate School of Business at the Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT) in Chicago, Illinois. Beginning in 1993, in addition to teaching, Bernie held the positions of Director, Career Planning Center (1993-2000), Director, International Programs (1995-2003), and Director, International Initiatives (2004-2005) finally entering a well-deserved retirement, at the age of 79, in 2005.

Bernie was the author of 2 books written for the American Management Association, Strategic Business Planning and with a co-author, How to Analyze the Competition. He wrote on cultural transformations occurring in an important division of the Du Pont company and his papers on strengthening R&D, Marketing, and customer interrelationships have appeared in the book Technology Management, Volume 2. He co-authored a case study on entrepreneuriality inside a high technology company which appears in the book Technology Management, Vol. 7. He was a member of the Board of Directors of the Midwest Planning Association and was vice president of the Business Marketing Division of the Chicago Chapter of the American Marketing Association and won numerous awards over his long career.

As accomplished as Bernie was professionally, he was the consummate family man. Camille and Bernie were blessed with 3 children, Philip Travis (1957) and Jonathan Foster (1959) both born in Delaware and Stephanie Meredith (1962) born in New Jersey.

While Bernie worked hard, he did what he could to participate in the activities of his children and in his community. If there was a job that needed to be filled, Bernie was your man - Indian Guides leader, Little League umpire, chair of the Brandywine School District fair, 7th grade Sunday School teacher at Temple Beth Emeth. Philip, Jon, and Stephanie tried to do their part to help Bernie "play hard" by teaching him how to ride a bike - he never learned as a child - and how to swim at the Silverside Swim Club; they were only successful on the latter. Bernie always worked late but you could count on him to bring home Dilly Bars from Dairy Queen, take everyone to the Farmer's Market for roasted peanuts and the auction, or to the drive-in movies for a night out. When Camille restarted her career as a nurse in 1970, Bernie did what he could, from taking his children bowling on a Sunday or on vacation to Ocean City, MD without Camille, to give her a needed rest.

Learning, and the love of it, was central to Bernie with the Rausch family dinner table being a place for discussion, debate, philosophy, homework, and the occasional tearful argument. Each summer the family and Bernie's mother-in-law Lillian Schaffel would take at least one vacation traveling the eastern seaboard visiting museums, planetariums, boardwalks and learning more about the history and culture of each place visited. At any one time there might be 20 magazines on his night stand, Newsweek, The New Yorker, and Prevention to name a few; he began taking vitamin E, fish oil, lots of vitamin C (a la Linus Pauling) and exercising before it was in vogue and encouraged all he knew and loved to do same. Lastly Bernie worked tirelessly to broaden the vocabularies of the Rausch household by engaging everyone in solving the NY Times crossword and the Saturday Review Double-Crostic. Doing puzzles was something he did up until his last days.

Bernie and Camille had a wonderful circle of friends with whom they remained close throughout their lives. They tasted wine, held gourmet dinners and often traveled together. Bernie and Camille also loved to entertain and were especially known for their "legendary" themed parties. From a scavenger hunt planned with Camille to a surprise destination 65th birthday party for Camille, planned and executed entirely by Bernie, there was nothing he loved more than gathering with family and friends to celebrate all that was good in life.

Besides Bernie's never-ending passion for Camille, Bernie loved art and music - opera, classical, and show tunes in particular. He'd make up songs to occupy his children on long trips and try to sing like an opera star or belt out a song in the car or around the house. As both Camille and Bernie were from Brooklyn, they visited New York City often taking advantage of Broadway, Lincoln Center, museums and galleries. Bernie loved beautiful things and he and Camille collected items, paintings, drawings, statues, pottery, and glassware from everywhere they traveled.

Traveling was another passion of Bernie and Camille's. Bernie kept a log of their travel outside of the continental United States including a 50-day cruise. Their time spent abroad totaled more than 400 days. They also traveled extensively in the US. While they loved traveling with each other, they also loved traveling with their children and grandchildren as well. and were blessed with the opportunity to do so internationally, domestically, and aboard cruise ships.

As if being an aficionado of art, music, and travel wasn't enough, Bernie was an amazing gardener. His green thumb was legendary. If there was a new way to grow plants, prevent frost from ruining a crop, or reap more produce Bernie read about and implemented it. He grew more lettuce, tomatoes, peppers, zucchini and eggplant than a family could ever eat. His recipe, Bernie's Gazpacho for Lovers, was published in the newspaper and Camille spent the entire month of August making tomato sauce, caponata, salsa, zucchini bread and more!

In 2003 Bernie and Camille retired to Kennett Square, PA to be closer to family, friends and, in particular, to their grandchildren - Phil's daughter Morgan Olivia (1998) living in Massachusetts and Stephanie's sons Bailey Foster (1994), Jordan Elliot (1998), and Casey Lane (2002) living in New Jersey.

For all that Bernie accomplished he certainly wasn't "easy." He didn't tolerate swearing of any kind. He had high standards and didn't accept anything less than someone's best effort. He was critical but, if you knew him, you knew he wasn't trying to make you feel less - he was trying to help you be your best self, though sometimes it didn't feel that way. He never met anyone he didn't like and helped any and everyone who needed it. He liked to tease and sometimes took it too far. And yet he had a magnetism that drew people in and kept them coming back for more. He could remember how to spell any word he ever saw and could pronounce it or spell it backwards without writing it down. He was quick with a joke and loved to stump people with riddles. He always said "I don't live to eat. I eat to live." and yet he loved to show off his wife's culinary skills gathering people together to share meals, stories and discuss/debate the news of the day.

If you remember one thing about Bernie it was that he always saw the good, or at least the potential for good, in everyone. He took pride, so much pride, in knowing that those he loved - including Richard and Sheila Rausch and Rita Moskowitz (Camille's sister) and their families and, in particular, his children Phil, Jon and Stephanie, and his grandchildren Morgan, Bailey, Jordan and Casey - were good people, people worthy of respect.

Ultimately, if you ever find yourself forgetting about the kind of man Bernie was all you need do is read the poem "Success" by Ralph Waldo Emerson and remember Bernie was a success in every sense of the word.

Success
To laugh often and much;
To win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children;
To earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends;
To appreciate beauty,
To find the best in others,
To leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child,
A garden patch or a redeemed social condition;
To know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived.
This is to have succeeded.

What a wonderful world it would be if there were more people like Bernie in it.

Bernie is survived by his children, Philip Rausch, Jonathan Rausch, and Stephanie Green, his grandchildren Morgan Rausch, and Bailey, Jordan, and Casey Green, his brother S. Richard Rausch (Sheila) and his sister-in-law Rita Moskowitz and their families.

A Service of Remembrance will be announced at a later date. In lieu of flowers or food, donations can be made to The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research https://www.michaeljfox.org or The International Rescue Committee (IRC) https://www.rescue.org/topic/ukraine-crisis

To view his online obituary, please visit http://www.griecofunerals.com