A ‘dedicated, tireless and energetic volunteer ‘was how Louis Rapaport, who has died aged 93, was described on being presented with a Special Recognition Award in 2019 by the Jewish Representative Council of Greater Manchester. It was awarded for over 65 years’ service to the community.
Louis Rapaport was active in the leadership of Manchester Reform Synagogue (Jackson’s Row) for over 60 years. His positions included trustee, council member and finally president, a post he held for two terms, following in the footsteps of his father, Leonard Rapaport, who served as president in 1949.
It was through the shul’s ‘JM’ (Junior Membership) in the 1950s that he met his future wife, Shirley Craingold, a member of the Orthodox Manchester Great Synagogue, then situated in Cheetham Hill. At the time, this thriving social club for teenagers was the venue where many of the Jewish youngsters met their future partners – popular with members of both the Reform and Orthodox shuls in the area. Louis and Shirley were married at Manchester Reform Synagogue on January 1 1957.
Born in 1932 to Leonard and Nita Rapaport, with a younger sister, Barbara, volunteering was already a strong family tradition and both children spent a large part of their lives helping others. Barbara is still an active volunteer and she received an MBE in 1999 for services to the community. Their father, known as ‘Leo’, served in the Greater Manchester Special Constabulary from 1939-1966. A veteran of the First World War where he served as a 2nd Lieutenant in the 9th Manchester Regiment, he was born in 1899, a fourth generation Manchester Jew on his maternal side. His family were founder members of Manchester Reform Synagogue.
Louis, like his father, was educated at Manchester Grammar School. (Subsequently followed by his son and grandson, making four generations at the school.) His mother, sister and daughter attended the neighbouring, ‘sister’ school, Manchester High School for Girls.
Louis was called up for National Service from 1951-53 in the Royal Electrical & Mechanical Engineers and he served in Korea, attached to the Durham Light Infantry from 1952-53.
Missing his opportunity to go to university he came back and joined the family car business – the Rusholme Light Car Company - set up by his father, and later renamed Rapaport & Tonge. Louis went on to run the business for over 50 years before retiring in 2008. He was remembered fondly by former customers, all of whose names he could recall. Equally, he had an amazing knack of recalling the make, model and registration number of almost every car he sold – and for using his persuasive powers to encourage their owners that it was time to exchange their car for a newer model!
When taking up his three-year presidency of the Jewish Representative Council of Greater Manchester in 2004, he was the first Reform delegate to hold that post since 1942. He had the ability and diplomacy to deal with the whole spectrum of Manchester Jewish communities and has been described as serving with dedication, integrity and strength.
At the time of his presidency there were tensions in the UK and a marked rise in antisemitic attacks, in the wake of Israel’s withdrawal from Gaza in 2005. Over 100 graves were desecrated at Rainsough Jewish Cemetery in Prestwich, north Manchester, in June, 2005, causing about £150,000 of damage. Louis was thrust into the spotlight as a spokesman for the community with media interest from national newspapers and TV. At the time he said, “This was not just a casual attack. It seems to me to have been a planned operation. It is one of the worst attacks on a Jewish cemetery ever in Greater Manchester”.
He was a member of the Board of Deputies for nearly 30 years and rarely missed a Sunday morning meeting, even when the trains from Manchester to London Euston were invariably delayed or cancelled. (Eventually, meetings were scheduled to start later to allow the ‘northerners’ to arrive in good time.)
Jonathan Arkush, a past president, wrote of Louis: “He was dedicated to the community and I was the beneficiary of his wisdom and experience at the Board of Deputies over many years”.
Phil Rosenberg, the current president of the BOD, said, “I have particularly fond memories of working with Louis on interfaith relations, where he was a real trailblazer”.
His involvement with Jewish organisations also included the Jewish Leadership Council and the executive of the Reform Synagogues of Great Britain and, as a veteran of the Korean war, he was an active member of AJEX, rarely missing the annual AJEX parade in 60 years.
Louis celebrated his 60th masonic anniversary last year, having been initiated in 1965. He was a founder member of Mount Sinai Lodge, which eventually merged with Old Mancunians Lodge – of which he was also a long-standing member – as a former pupil of Manchester Grammar School. He was a gifted sportsman in his youth, particularly a keen footballer and lacrosse player, coaching the sport at his old school for many years until the mid-1970s.
However, it is also for his work in promoting interfaith dialogue that he will be remembered. Prompted by the growing antisemitism at the time he saw a desperate need for better and cohesive cross-communal relations and, never being someone to stand idly by, he was instrumental in putting words into actions.
In 2003 he became a founding member, later chairman, of the Altrincham & District Interfaith group in Cheshire, forming a collaboration and social activity programme with the Christian, Buddhist, Muslim and Hindu communities – and later with Sikhs and Baha’i faith members. It is still a successful and flourishing organisation and it is a testament to Louis that representatives from most of these religions attended his funeral and shiva.
His passions outside his communal work were fishing, playing bridge and travelling the world with his devoted wife, Shirley – and watching his beloved Manchester United, a passion he passed on to his two eldest grandchildren - who live in London - who would phone him for a post-match analysis after all the important games.
Louis was a true ‘mensch’ who served his Jewish community for most of his life. “His communal leadership and relationships with other faith communities have left a lasting impact on the whole of Greater Manchester”, Mark Adlestone OBE, chair of the Manchester Jewish Representive Council, wrote as part of his tribute.
Louis died unexpectedly one day before his 69th wedding anniversary, and is survived by his wife, Shirley, son Peter,
daughter Jane, five grandchildren and five great-grandchildren.
Louis Rapaport: born December 16,1932. Died December 31 2025
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