Rosemary Kraemer Lokey Raitt, Pepperdine University regent, died Dec. 16. She was 91.
Raitt was an active member of the Pepperdine community and a 29-year member of the Board of Regents.
“Rosemary Raitt was one of the university’s staunchest and most consistent supporters,” Pepperdine president Andrew K. Benton said. “She was more than a supporter-she was an active and constant contributor to the university community. From her establishment of scholarships, to serving on our Board of Regents and our Center for the Arts Guild, to directly working with our students, Rosemary distinguished herself as a person who actively sought to involve herself in the life of the university, with the aim of making a real and immediate difference.”
In addition to serving on the Board of Regents, the Pepperdine University Associates and the Center for the Arts Guild, Raitt was a director of the Crippled Children’s Society of Los Angeles, a member of the Costume Council of the Los Angeles Art Museum, the Craft and Folk Art Museum, the National Arts Association, the Diadames (supporting the Mirman School of Talented Children), Les Dames de Champagne of Los Angeles and the American Academy of Achievement.
“Rosemary and her late husband, John, were a vital part of our arts center and the life of our university,” Marnie Duke Mitze, chief of staff and former managing director of the Center for the Arts at Pepperdine, said. “Hundreds of young musicians have benefited from the opportunity to perform in the exquisite Raitt Recital Hall, and many more students have benefited from the generosity of the Rosemary Lokey Raitt endowed scholarship and the John and Rosemary Raitt music theatre scholarship. Rosemary was the first person to establish a scholarship at the university’s Malibu campus.”
Raitt was a descendant of Antonio Yorba, a member of the Portola expedition from Spain in 1769. She observed the rapid growth and development of California as she grew up from her family’s Orange County ranch.
Raitt attended Scripps College in Claremont and the University of Southern California, where she majored in geology. She was married to Husley S. Lokey, who is now deceased. After Lokey’s death, she married John Raitt, who died in 2005. She pursued the study of horticulture, mineralogy, folk art, Oriental art and was involved in the creation of a national design for handicapped housing.
Raitt is survived by her daughter, Sally Lokey, step-children David and Bonnie Raitt, Dorothy Mahieu Johnson and several grandchildren.
Memorial services took place Tuesday in Santa Monica.