Gerald Rappaport, a longtime manager of several Milwaukee-area hotels including the downtown Hyatt Regency Milwaukee and Hilton Milwaukee City Center, has died at age 58. Nancy and Gerald Rappaport Rappaport has for the last five years managed the Marcus Hotels & Resorts-owned Skirvin Hilton in Oklahoma City. He suffered a major
Gerald Rappaport, a longtime manager of several Milwaukee-area hotels including the downtown Hyatt Regency Milwaukee and Hilton Milwaukee City Center, has died at age 58.
[caption id="attachment_501497" align="alignright" width="450"] Nancy and Gerald Rappaport[/caption]
Rappaport has for the last five years managed the Marcus Hotels & Resorts-owned Skirvin Hilton in Oklahoma City. He suffered a major stroke just days before the hotel closed due to the COVID-19 outbreak, according to an article in The Oklahoman.
Rappaport started with Marcus at the Sheraton Mayfair, now the Radisson. He took over at the Hilton Milwaukee City Center right before its addition, parking structure and Wisconsin Center were built, said Peggy Williams-Smith, president and chief executive officer of Visit Milwaukee.
"He was a true hotelier who mentored many hospitality leaders in Milwaukee," Williams-Smith said in a statement.
He managed the Hilton from 1996 until 2005, when he moved to the Wyndham, which is now the Saint Kate arts-themed hotel.
After leaving Marcus he served as general manager of the Sheraton hotel in Brookfield for a short stint before returning downtown to lead the Hyatt through its multi-million dollar renovation.
He then rejoined Marcus in 2013 and eventually ended up in Oklahoma City.
Rappaport is survived by his wife Nancy and two daughters, Kayleigh and Emily.
There will be a private burial for Rappaport in Milwaukee, according to his obituary on Legacy.com.
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