Liz Bracken, an associate coordinator at the University of Arizona's Race Track Industry Program and a former employee of the New York Racing Association, passed away Sunday. She was 52.
Bracken had been diagnosed with ovarian cancer prior to joining the faculty at Arizona and died after a reoccurrence of that illness. She passed away at Hope Hospice & Palliative Care in her hometown of Providence, Rhode Island.
“I can't tell you how much we miss her,” said RTIP director Wendy Davis. “She was a fantastic associate coordinator. What everybody remembers her most for was how she was a mentor to the students. She told me once that this was the best job she ever had and her reason was the students. She really knew them, she really took them to heart. Any time they reached out to her she was there for them. She always went above and beyond as a teacher and always took a real personal interest in the students.
“She was so easy to work with. We enjoyed working together and it was always a team effort, which is probably not the case when it comes to a lot of places in horse racing. Everybody always had the oars rowing in the same direction.”
A graduate of Arizona's racetrack program, Bracken worked as a racing official at several different tracks before coming to NYRA in 1997. She worked in NYRA's simulcasting department and had risen to the level of a vice president when she left in 2013 to work at the University of Arizona.
Bracken was the daughter of Elizabeth “Betty” (O'Neil) Bracken, and the late Mark S. Bracken. She is survived by several aunts, uncles, cousins and friends, plus her companion John Toto.
A funeral will be held Wednesday, Nov. 27, 2019 at 9 AM from the Thomas & Walter Quinn Funeral Home, 2435 Warwick Ave., Warwick, with a Mass of Christian Burial at 10 AM in St. Paul Church, 1 St. Paul Place, Edgewood, Cranston. Burial will be in St. Ann Cemetery, Cranston. Visiting hours Tuesday, 4-7 PM. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions to Hope Hospice & Palliative Care, 1085 North Main Street, Providence, RI 02904 are appreciated.
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