Tributes pour in after death of Catlow, Boloney's co-owner
Dozens of flowers sat outside the Catlow Theater and Boloney's Sandwich Shop in downtown Barrington Tuesday in loving tribute to the life of the businesses' co-owner, Roberta Rapata, who died Sunday at 57.
“Everyone in town loved her,” Tim O'Connor, Rapata's fiance, said Tuesday. “We're getting so many emails, and the Facebook is going crazy with everybody showing their love and appreciation for her.”
A post O'Connor made on the Catlow Facebook page Monday announcing Rapata's death had by Tuesday afternoon received 244 reactions and 51 comments from people sharing their sympathies.
O'Connor wrote in the post that the outpouring of love and affection since Rapata's death has eased his pain.
“I'm sure she's looking down in amazement at how appreciated she was by all of you,” wrote O'Connor, who had been with Rapata since 1977.
Rapata and O'Connor started Boloney's together in 1981 and bought the Catlow in 1988. He ran the Catlow and she ran Boloney's.
“She just took Boloney's to the top,” O'Connor said.
Former Barrington Trustee Jack Schaefer said everybody in Barrington liked Rapata.
“She was a very, very cheerful person,” Schaefer said. “She seemed to attract employees that were cheerful. It was always fun to be there.”
Village President Karen Darch said Rapata was part of what made the two businesses so iconic.
“She really made so many people in this town happy for so many years,” Darch said. “She would want people to still enjoy Boloney's and Catlow, which are such a part of Barrington. I'm sure she would want to see that continue.”
According to O'Connor, the theater and the sandwich shop will be closed until Friday. He said Rapata would have insisted both remain in business.
According to the DuPage County coroner's office, Rapata suffered a heart attack early Sunday morning and was rushed to Adventist GlenOaks Hospital in Glendale Heights, where she was pronounced dead at 3:39 a.m.
A visitation service will be held from 4 to 9 p.m. Wednesday, at Davenport Family Funeral Home and Crematory, 149 W. Main St. in Barrington. A second visitation will be held from 10 to 11 a.m. Thursday at St. Anne Catholic Church, 120 N. Ela St. in Barrington. The funeral Mass will begin at 11 a.m., and a private burial will follow.