Updated 6:52 pm
The Island woke up to shocking news today that the prominent attorney and community leader Ronald H. Rappaport died unexpectedly on Friday night in Vineyard Haven. He was 74 years old and lived year-round in Chilmark with his wife Jane Kaplan.
“I’m shocked and I’m devastated. This is a huge loss for the town of Chilmark, for his family, for his friends … and for the entire Island,” Jim Malkin, Chilmark select board chair, said. Malkin told The Times Rappaport had mentored him when he was moving onto the Vineyard as a “washashore” in 2010.
Born and raised on Martha’s Vineyard, Rappaport lived an extraordinary life, serving as an attorney for five of the six towns on the Island and offering legal counsel and sound advice to a wide circle of friends, business owners, politicians, and celebrities from near and far.
After graduating from Stanford University, Rappaport worked under former Massachusetts Senator Ed Brooke in Washington, D.C., before enrolling in Boston College law school. He met Kaplan while studying for the bar exam.
Rappaport was a partner at the Boston law firm Friedman and Atherton. In 1986, he returned to the Vineyard and founded the law firm Reynolds, Rappaport, Kaplan & Hackney — now the largest law firm on the Vineyard — with his wife and attorney Jim Reynolds on Cooke Street in Edgartown.
Multiple Vineyard leaders told The Times on Saturday what a terrible blow Rappaport’s passing is for the Island.
“His wisdom and knowledge was instrumental in nearly every facet of this Island,” Tom Murphy, Aquinnah select board member, said. “He was one of the very few people everybody loved.”
“Fortunately, he was able to love his life and live in this community,” Juli Vanderhoop, Aquinnah select board member, said. She told The Times Rappaport had “done so much” for the Island and was someone who was a staunch member of the Vineyard community.
“Ron Rappaport was an Island treasure and his loss is going to be felt by all of us,” Roy Cutrer, Tisbury select board chair, told The Times.
“He left a wonderful legacy that we are all grateful for,” Gail Barmakian, Oak Bluffs select board chair, said.
Barmakian also told The Times Oak Bluffs was “privileged and lucky” to have had Rappaport as the legal counsel for the town for decades.
The Rev. Charlotte Wright of the Chilmark Community Church wrote that Rappaport was part of the legal team that represented the church in its land court litigation. “We would not have exited from the UMC successfully without him,” Wright wrote in an email. “He referred to us as ‘my little church.’ We will be eternally grateful for his dedication to the Island and beyond, and his love for this church that he considered his own.”
As a trial attorney, Rappaport also led some high profile court cases.
In 1997, he represented Edgartown in a landmark court decision in which the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court upheld three-acre zoning in the town. This was the largest minimum acreage requirement ever allowed in the state.
“A developer wanted to reduce the three-acre zoning and put in a lot of units out on the south shore of Edgartown, where the ponds are,” Rappaport previously told the Times. “And we argued that the ponds are environmentally fragile, and what’s more, they’re a big part of what makes the Vineyard the Vineyard, and we won. And that case has had consequences all across the state.”
“Not only was he town counsel, but he was an Islander,” Mark Leonard, Oak Bluffs select board member, said.
Leonard recalled seeing Rappaport speaking during the dedication ceremony for a plaque in memory of Dennis daRosa, a founder of the Oak Bluffs Association, on May 26. He said it was evident Rappaport was a great man and he was beloved by the community.
“It’s just sad to see our long-term residents passing on,” Leonard said.
For a number of Island leaders, Rappaport was also a cherished friend.
“He was the most compassionate and empathetic, wise counsel that I’ve dealt with here and I will miss him,” Jeffrey Madison, Aquinnah town administrator, said. Madison told The Times he had been friends with Rappaport for 50 years, recalling he had just met Rappaport on Thursday to talk about town business. “I will miss him terribly.”
“Ron Rappaport was a remarkable person and a dear friend whose impact on Martha’s Vineyard is immeasurable,” Cynthia Mitchell, West Tisbury select board vice chair, told The Times in a text. “There was simply no one like him. His contributions to local politics and community philanthropy were unparalleled. As his friend, I know that what made Ron so special was about much more — he loved people and he made life better for anyone lucky to have known him. He will be deeply missed in nearly every corner of public life on the Island. It seems impossible to imagine the Vineyard without him.”
Rappaport provided public service through numerous capacities, including as the Vineyard Steamship Authority governor and was chairman of the board at the Martha’s Vineyard Bank. His father was a well-known Island physician, and Ronald was born on the Island and came of age in Oak Bluffs.
“We are deeply saddened by the loss of Ronald Rappaport, an iconic figure who served as a member of the Martha’s Vineyard Hospital board of trustees,” Denise Schepici, president of Martha’s Vineyard Hospital, said in a statement issued on Saturday. “More importantly, he was a cherished friend and confidant. Our sincere condolences go out to his family, friends, and the many individuals whose lives he touched with his dedicated service to Martha’s Vineyard.”
Rappaport was a dedicated cyclist and could be seen riding his bike up-Island just about every day in the summer and fall. But those who knew him well say his greatest dedication of all was to his family.
“One of the best sights in Chilmark recently has been driving along South Road and going by Ron’s driveway as he held his baby grandson, delightedly watching the trucks go by,” Malkin told The Times.
Rappaport is survived by his wife Jane Kaplan, daughter Julia Rappaport of Newton and Chilmark and her husband Jack Spencer and their two sons Sam and Charlie; and by his brother, Alan Rappaport, and a sister Susan Cohen, as well as many beloved nieces and nephews and a great-nephew.
