Raisa Mynajew Blahove, 88, passed away on March 17, 2026.

She was born on February 28, 1938, in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine. During World War II, her family fled their homeland, eventually living in a displaced persons camp in Aschaffenburg, Germany. In 1949, they immigrated to Buenos Aires, Argentina, and in 1961, Raisa immigrated to Brooklyn, New York.

In Argentina, Raisa and her sisters, Alicia and Marisa, were opera singers. After coming to the United States, she became a high school foreign language teacher, working in New York, Virginia, and North Carolina. She earned her bachelor's and master's degrees from Stony Brook University and was fluent in seven languages.

Raisa lived in Westhampton Beach, New York; Springfield and Fairfax, Virginia; and Greensboro, North Carolina. She later retired to Tybee Island, Georgia, with her husband to be closer to her son Mark, daughter in law, Stacy and granddaughter, Maria.

She was preceded in death by her husband, Marcos (Blahoviriw) Blahove, an internationally renowned portrait and impressionist artist.