Doug Rauss: In Memoriam

Every cultural organization stands on the shoulders of its volunteers. Through their innumerable gifts of time and talent in jobs large and small, these friends of the arts keep companies going. So the passing of one at any time is keenly felt. So it is with Doug Rauss, who died Wednesday, Aug. 31. A dedicated arts patron, Rauss "saw everything by everybody," according to his friend Robert Pierson. "He didn't miss many shows and saw many shows twice." But Rauss did more than watch, much more: running box office for shows at Hyde Park Theatre and the Off Center, assisting the dirigo group, doing house manager duties for the Rude Mechanicals' Cherrywood and Stadium Devildare, serving as dramaturg for Pierson's play Hemophiliacs, coordinating volunteers for the Rudes' Pink Eye Ball fundraiser in 2004, and cooking. Lots of cooking: baking sweets and cakes for openings and closings of shows and delicacies for last month's Black Eye Ball. He was also recognized as an excellent chef at the Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired, where he worked for 19 years as a residential instructor and a dorm manager and was honored as an Outstanding Residential Life Staff Member for his organizational skills and rapport with students. He is remembered, in Pierson's words, as "an intellectual and an aesthete of the most discerning taste," "a spiritual man," and "a gentleman – old-school." A memorial service was held on Saturday, Sept. 10, at Mission Funeral Home, 6204 S. First. He will be missed.