By Nicole Hamilton
The Cincinnati Enquirer

LOVELAND - Connie Louise Rapp always managed to stay busy, said her husband, John. "She kept going. She had lots of irons in the fire at all times."

He said her boundless energy and tenacity came in handy as the mother of a teenage daughter and as the owner of a business, Connie's Accessories.

The traits also helped her win a lucrative settlement in a lawsuit filed against her former employer, the Xerox Corp., in 1998.

Mrs. Rapp died Saturday at Hospice of Cincinnati in Blue Ash after a yearlong battle with smoking-related lung cancer. The Loveland resident was 55.

In 1995, Mrs. Rapp was terminated from Xerox after 26 years of employment when the company downsized. At the time, she was working as the district controller in the Tristate region.

Claiming wrongful termination and sexual discrimination, Mrs. Rapp filed a lawsuit against Xerox. The three-year battle ended with a trial in U.S. Federal District Court in Cincinnati, where she won a large cash settlement in 1998. At the time, it was the largest verdict awarded for an individual employment action in Cincinnati.

"She showed her strong-willed, principled approach to life (in pursuing the lawsuit)," her husband said. "Her goal in this action was not monetary but to demonstrate that a large company could not discriminate against any of its employees."

Raised in North College Hill, Mrs. Rapp graduated from North College Hill High School and attended Miami University in Oxford.

After accepting a summer position with Xerox, she decided to work for the company full-time, serving in various capacities in several cities, including Washington, D.C., Atlanta and Rochester, N.Y., where she met her husband in 1983.

Mrs. Rapp moved back to Cincinnati in 1990 when she accepted the position as district controller with Xerox.

She then started her own women's accessories business and recently had hired four sales representatives and a partner.

A faithful Cincinnati Bengals fan, Mrs. Rapp was known to enjoy tailgating and eventually met head coach Marvin Lewis and his family.

Last season, during a particularly cold Bengals game, members of the Lewis family - knowing of Mrs. Rapp's illness - asked her to watch the game from their private box.

Besides her husband, survivors include her daughter, Stefanie Louise Rapp of Loveland; and a brother, Albert Thiess Jr., of Westport, Conn.

Visitation will be from 6-8 p.m. today at Tufts Schildmeyer Funeral Home, 1668 State Route 28, Goshen.

Another visitation will be from 10-11 a.m. Tuesday at the funeral home. Services will follow.

The body was cremated.

Memorials may be made to Hospice of Cincinnati, P.O. Box 633597, Cincinnati, OH 45263-3597, or to the American Cancer Society, 2808 Reading Road, Cincinnati, OH 45206.

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E-mail nhamilton@enquirer.com