Mary Raker
Mary Lou Raker, 82, of Iron River, MI, passed away on April 28, 2025, at her daughter’s home following illness.
Born in Bristol, PA, in 1942, Mary Lou was the daughter of the late Earl Joseph Bennett and Catherine Murray Bennett. She graduated from Bishop Egan High School in Levittown, PA in 1960, and the University of Pennsylvania in 1964.
In her early nursing career, Mary Lou worked as a nurse in several hospital and clinical settings in the Philadelphia area and served as a missionary nurse in Nigeria at a Catholic medical facility serving impoverished families.
While continuing her education at Temple University, she met her late husband Lewis Holmes Raker. They married in 1973, in Philadelphia, PA. In 1974, their daughter Katharine was born. Mary Lou then became a homemaker and later worked as a hospice nurse in Waterloo, Iowa, where the family lived until moving to Iron River, MI, in 1995.
Along the way, Mary Lou consistently supported and served those in need by being a foster parent, tutoring children, contributing to medical missions and ministry groups, and by providing lifelong stability to her family.
She enjoyed reading, fishing, family game nights, good movies, and her pets. Her four grandchildren were a central focus of her later years.
Mary Lou is survived by her daughter and four grandchildren.
A graveside memorial will be held at the Phelps Cemetery in Phelps, WI, on Wednesday, July 9, 2025, at 5:00 p.m. Dinner following memorial at Raker residence.
Arrangements by Gaffney-Busha Funeral Home, Eagle River. Online condolences may be expressed at gaffney-busha.com PAID OBITUARY
