William I. Rau, 69, of Atlanta
/AJT/ William I. Rau
William (Bill) I. Rau, an international financial advisor, died on Feb. 20, after a long illness. He was 69. With over 42 years of financial industry management experience, his professional career included Vice Chair of GMA Partners, Senior Managing Director of Bank of America, Director of Barclays Bank, Managing Director of Continental Illinois National Bank and a Vice President (from 2002 to the present) of Neuberger Berman Group LLC. An active fundraiser and prominent civic leader, Bill served as Director, Treasurer, Member and Trustee of numerous organizations including: The Advisory Council of The Wilmer Eye Institute, Johns Hopkins, Baltimore, Woodruff Arts Center, Atlanta, and earlier in Chicago: The Michael Reese Hospital & Medical Center, Francis W. Parker School, The Lincoln Park Zoo, The Illinois Eye Foundation, and the Scholarship & Guidance Association, Chicago. He was a recipient of the Charles R. Yates Award for Philanthropic Leadership in Atlanta. Born in Highland Park, Ill. he attended Staunton Military Academy and received a BA from the University of Virginia and an MBA from Columbia University. He was a Captain in the U.S. Air Force. His first marriage to Sally Ruth May ended in divorce. Their daughter, Alexandra (Sasha) Rau, a clinical therapist, lives in New York City. Bill was preceded in death by his parents, Ben and Margery (Felsenthal) Rau. He is survived by his wife of 21 years, Jo Ann Wolf, New York, and Canton, Ohio; his daughter, Sasha; his sisters Patricia White, Betty Santandrea (Bob) and Dorothy (Dede) Gile; his brother and sister-in-law Fred and Leora (Lucas) Wolf; his nieces and nephews: Jacob, Claire and Adam Wolf, David and Matthew Schewel and Sara Schewel Foster. Bill has been described as a gentle, courageous, generous, kind and thoughtful man. Bill loved people. He had numerous, dedicated life-long friends, many from his early childhood years as a camper at Camp Nebagamon. As one recently said, Bill always cared about others before himself. His personality was infectious. Even during the toughest days of his medical battles, Bill was always happy, always smiling, always laughing. His family wishes to thank colleagues, family and friends for their support, and especially Dr. Kenneth Braunstein, Dr. Samuel Webster, and Dr. Demetre Papadopoulos – all of Atlanta, and the doctors, and staff of The Seattle Cancer Care Alliance, Seattle, Wash. for their outstanding care. A memorial service will be held in the Sanctuary of The Temple (1589 Peachtree Street) on Monday, March 3, at 11:30 a.m. An online guestbook is available at www.edressler. com. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to University of Washington Merkel Cell Carcinoma (MCC) Research, in care of Dr. Paul Nghiem, University of Washington, 850 Republic Street, Room 242, Seattle, WA 98109. Arrangements by Dressler’s Jewish Funeral Care, (770) 451-4999.
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