Obituary of Henry James Racette

Henry James “Handsome Hank” Racette passed away in his home in Peralta New Mexico on February 3rd, 2024. Hank was born February 21, 1939 in Redford, New York, to Charles Racette and Anna Parrotte Racette. He was preceded in death by his wife Agatha “Aggie” Racette.

In 1975, eager to escape the long cold winters of northern New York state, Hank and Aggie loaded their seven children into their Plymouth station wagon and drove the two thousand miles from their home in Plattsburgh New York to their new home in New Mexico. Hank, an independent life insurance salesman, built a thriving business from his home office in Peralta, and earned a well-deserved reputation as an expert in life insurance and estate tax planning. Aggie, an RN who had retired from nursing to raise her family, resumed working for a few years as her children grew older. Aggie passed away in November of 2022.

Friends will remember Hank for his integrity and encyclopedic knowledge of insurance and estate tax planning, his love of golf, and his outgoing, larger-than-life personality. His children remember him for his generosity and good humor, his irrepressible urge to impart his wisdom upon them, and his utter and absolute loving devotion to his wife of 60 years. Hank and Aggie were, above all, extraordinary parents and role models to their children and grandchildren, and are dearly missed.

Hank is survived by his brothers Charles Racette and Stephen Racette of New York, his sons Henry, John, and Daniel Racette, his daughters Teri DePuy, Tracy Aragon, and Jennifer Finlayson, and many grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Hank and Aggie lost one child, their daughter Stephanie Racette, in 2009.

The family believes Hank would have preferred that, in lieu of sending flowers, those who remember him would go out and have a good steak, cooked rare, in his honor.