Mary Rakow

WILSON - Mary Lou Bailey Rakow, 76, died August 19, 2013.

The memorial service will be held at St. Timothy's Episcopal Church (where Mary Lou sang in the choir for over forty years) on Friday at 11:00 AM, followed by inurnment in the church columbarium. The family will receive friends at the church following the inurnment.

She was born March 29, 1937 at Pensacola Naval Air Station, the daughter of Joslyn and Mabell Bailey. She spent her childhood years moving often from coast to coast as her Marine aviator father was transferred. She went to Pomona College in Claremont, CA, graduating in 1958, and then on to New York to study voice at Union Theological Seminary's School of Sacred Music. It was at Union that she met and married fellow student, Charles Rakow (an organist).

In 1960, after Charles graduated, they relocated to Wilson where Chuck took jobs first as the First Methodist Church as Minister of Music and later at Atlantic Christian College as a professor of Music. When their daughter Betsy was of school age, Mary Lou went back to school, commuting three days a week to UNC-Chapel Hill to get her Masters in Library Science, graduating in early 1971. She immediately began her job as Children's Librarian at the Wilson County Public Library, where she especially enjoyed building the book collection, storytelling, readers' advisory work with children and their parents, giving puppet shows, and becoming widely known as "The Dial-A-Story Lady" for the weekly stories she told over the phone. For twelve years she also planned and presented a spring storytelling festival for all fourth graders in the county.

After retirement in 1999, Mary Lou and Chuck indulged their desire to travel, making several cross-country driving trips to visit friends and relatives and going on trips with Elderhostel and to several countries and many programs within the United States. At home she served as organist/choir director at Covenant Presbyterian Church from 1995-2005 and also served several years on the Friends of the Library Board, most recently as President. She also spent quite a bit of time at the Wilson Y, especially enjoying her line dancing classes.

Mary Lou is survived by her husband of 53 years, Charles Rakow; daughter, Betsy Seglem (Dennis) of Cut Bank, MT; grandchildren, Sara Seglem of Salt Lake City, UT and Kristopher Seglem of Bozeman, MT; sisters, Carol Anne Sims (Brian) of Pismo Beach, CA and Jean Bailey of Arroyo Grande, CA and bother, J. Robert Bailey of Orange, CA.

In lieu of flowers, memorials are suggested to the Oncology Nurse Navigator Program at Wilson Medical Center, 1705 Tarboro St SW. Wilson, NC 27893, Friends of the Wilson County Public Library, 249 Nash St, Wilson, NC 27893, or to the Wilson YMCA, 3436 Airport Blvd, Wilson, NC 27896.