Family
Rae was born in Ottawa, Ontario. His parents were Lois Esther (George) and Saul Rae, an eminent Canadian career diplomat who had postings in Washington, Geneva, New York, Mexico, and The Hague. Rae's paternal grandparents immigrated from Scotland, and his mother had English ancestry. Rae was raised as an Anglican (as an adult, he found out that his paternal grandfather was Jewish, and was from a family of Lithuanian immigrants to Scotland).
Rae's brother John is a Vice-President of Power Corporation and a prominent member of the Liberal Party. He was also an adviser to Jean Chrétien from 1993 until Chrétien retired in 2003. Rae's younger brother, David, was diagnosed with lymphatic cancer in 1987. Despite a bone marrow transplant from his brother, he died of leukemia in 1989 at age 32.
Rae's sister, Jennifer, worked for many years for the IMAX Corporation but has now retired. She dated Pierre Trudeau for a time in the late 1960s.
Rae learned of his family's Jewish origins in 1968. The revelation had a strong impact on him, he sought to explore his Jewish culture, dated Jewish girls exclusively and ultimately married a Jewish woman. Upon his marriage to Arlene Perly Rae, Rae agreed to raise his children in his wife's Jewish faith. Rae is a member of Holy Blossom Temple, a Reform Jewish congregation in Toronto.
Rae is not related to Kyle Rae, the former Toronto City Councillor for a ward within Bob Rae's current federal riding.
Read more about this topic: Bob Rae
Famous quotes containing the word family:
“Family lore can be a bore, but only when you are hearing it, never when you are relating it to the ones who will be carrying it on for you. A family without a storyteller or two has no way to make sense out of their past and no way to get a sense of themselves.”
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“For most women who are considering it, single motherhood is not their first choice, but it’s not their last one either. They would prefer a husband in their family, but they’d rather have a family without one than no family at all.”
—Anne Cassidy. “Every Child Should Have a Father But....,” McCall’s (March 1985)
“If family communication is good, parents can pick up the signs of stress in children and talk about it before it results in some crisis. If family communication is bad, not only will parents be insensitive to potential crises, but the poor communication will contribute to problems in the family.”
—Donald C. Medeiros (20th century)