John Michael Rakocy

Madison-John Rakocy passed away on Tuesday, May 15, 2018 after a brief illness. He was born in Milwaukee on October 7, 1941, to Frank Rakocy and Joan (Dehos) Manske. John received his Bachelors of Science in Architecture from the University of Illinois Champaign in 1965. He was united in marriage to his High School sweetheart, Judith Williams on July 20, 1963. Together they had three beautiful children, Jefferson, Jonathan and Jennifer. John’s career began at Flad & Associates where he drafted many local projects including shopping centers, housing communities and clinic sites such as the UW Health Sciences Center built from the ground up in 1977. His proudest achievement during that time was making the Ronald McDonald house a reality for the Madison community. He spent hundreds of hours of donated time working on the site design and then serving as chair of the operations and facilities committee and he was publicly recognized as a Today’s Hero for his community service.  John later served as a project manager for the State of Wisconsin Department of Administration. Some of his signatures include the UW Microbial Sciences, Biotech addition, and Education Buildings. He proudly toured his children and grandson’s through the Microbial labs and the floating staircases. Mikey and Benny were beaming with pride when they saw the plaque there honoring Grandpa’s work.  John enjoyed wooden Chris Crafts, fishing, Door county harbors, cabin life and most of all spending time with family. Many summers were spent with them in the Northwoods boating, fishing, sunset watching and listening to the loons by the campfire. He loved history, Blues music, the Brewers, Packers, Badgers, and traveling.  John is survived by his daughter, Jenny (Reed) Prisk; two sons, Jon Rakocy and Jefferson (Becky) Rakocy; and two grandsons, Michael and Benjamin Rakocy. John was an absolute gentleman who shared his love and light with many extended family and friends. He was preceded in death by his father, mother and wife. The family would like to thank the West Madison EMS crew, UW critical care teams for their expertise, kindness and compassion. A very special thank you to Dr. Dennis Maki and Dr. Amy Jaeger for their guidance, gentleness and comforting support. Memorial services will be held at GUNDERSON WEST FUNERAL & CREMATION CARE, 7435 University Ave, Middleton, at 6:00 pm on Tuesday, May 22, 2018, with Chaplain Stephen Zwettler presiding. Visitation will be held on Tuesday 3:00 pm until the time of service. In lieu of flowers, memorials in John’s name may be made to MDA of Southern Wisconsin ALS Division.  Online condolences may be made at www.gundersonfh.com.