Rachel Joan Rich, 79, of Royal Palms Retirement Center in Port Charlotte, Florida, passed away Tuesday, July 14, 2009 at the TideWell Hospice & Palliative Care House after a short stay at Peace River Regional Medical Center, both of Port Charlotte.

She was born on March 16, 1930 in Morenci, Michigan. Rachel grew up in Michigan, graduating from high school in Eaton Rapids, and then graduating from Eastern Michigan University in Ypsilanti. After additional education to become a medical technologist, she worked in many hospital laboratories during her career including in Fort Wayne and Bluffton, Indiana; Kalamazoo, Michigan; East Lansing, Michigan; and the Peace River Regional Medical Center after relocating to Port Charlotte in 1980. Her professional passion was teaching and training medical students at the Michigan State University College of Human Medicine, and was involved with early genetic studies and chromosome identification. She was a coin collector, and an avid outdoor enthusiast who loved skiing in her early years, travel, painting outdoor scenes, fishing, and golf.

She is survived by her sister-in-law Dolores (Doak) Rich of Kalamazoo, Michigan, and her three nephews, Michael Rich of Indianapolis, Bruce Rich of Boca Raton, FL, and Douglas Rich of Detroit, and their families. Rachel was preceded in death by her parents Dorothy and Earl Rich of Port Charlotte, and her brother Thomas Rich of Kalamazoo, Michigan.