Iris R. Brock, active volunteer
Iris R. Brock, 84, died peacefully in her sleep Thursday, Nov. 23, 2017, at Good Samaritan Assisted Living, in Silver Spring, Md. She was born Feb. 28, 1933, in Cleveland, Ohio to Joseph P. Rapposelli and Violet (Aliberti) Rapposelli.
Iris earned her bachelor’s degree at Notre Dame College of Ohio. After graduation, she worked as a reporter for Fairchild Publications, and as director of public relations at Marymount Hospital in Cleveland. After marriage, she worked as a tutor for students in middle school through graduate school levels, and in the interior design and antiques businesses, both in the Chicago suburbs where she and her husband, Gerald "Jerry" Joseph Brock, lived for 30 years, and in Lewes, where they moved in 1994.
Throughout her life, Iris was an active volunteer with a number of cultural and educational institutions. Chief among these were many years with Campfire Girls of America and the Community Council of International Students of Northwestern University in the Chicago area, and Delaware Association for the Blind, Friends of the Lewes Library, and as a docent for and board member of the Lewes Historical Society after her move to Lewes. She was artistically talented, possessing a keen sense of color and spatial relationships, an able seamstress and pianist, and a knowledgeable opera enthusiast. She enjoyed sharing all of those interests with friends and family.
In addition to her parents, Iris was predeceased by her beloved husband of 47 years, Jerry; and her brother, Harold Rapposelli. She is survived by her loving daughter, Andrea Marie; sisters-in-law Mary "Dede" (Brock) Hall and Nelda (Bishop) Rapposelli; numerous nieces, nephews, and cousins; several godchildren; and many grateful students, both in the U.S. and abroad.
A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated Tuesday, Dec. 12, at 11 a.m., at St. Jude the Apostle Catholic Church, 152 Tulip Drive, Lewes. Inurnment at Delaware Veterans Memorial Cemetery will take place at a later date. Arrangements are being handled by Parsell Funeral Homes and Crematorium, Lewes.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Americans United for Life, 2101 Wilson Blvd., Suite 525, Arlington, VA 22201 (www.aul.org), or to the Quinlivan Award Fund, Notre Dame College of Ohio, Office of College Advancement, 4545 College Road, South Euclid, OH 44121-4293, Attn. Katherine Callahan.
Please visit Iris' Life Memorial Webpage and sign her online guestbook at www.parsellfuneralhomes.com.
