Raphael Maria Bastian

1965 - 2024

Raphael Maria Bastian

February 17, 1965 - April 23, 2024

Miami, Florida - Raphael Maria Bastian, chair of the board of trustees at Carrollton School of the Sacred Heart, mother, wife, friend, daughter and sister died Tuesday. She was 59.

Raphael worked to support many community organizations in Miami. In addition to her nearly six years on the board of trustees at Carrollton, she volunteered for 20 years as a religious education teacher and eucharistic minister at the Church of Epiphany in Miami, she spent 17 years on the board of the Brickell Avenue Literary Society, was a member and past president of the Beaux Arts society of the Lowe Museum for 24 years, served more than 7 years as a pro bono guardian ad litem for Dade County Legal Aid, offered two years as co-chair of the Gala in the Garden to support Fairchild Gardens and was recently elected to the board of trustees for the Girl Scouts of Tropical Florida. In addition, she served as Parent Council president at Carrollton and won many awards such as Big Brothers and Big Sisters Miracle Maker, Buoniconti Fund to Cure Paralysis Woman of Substance and Style, Fairchild Philanthropy Award and Plaza Health Network Woman of Distinction and Caring.

The role that brought Raphael the most joy, however, was as mother to Kateri, Marika and Holt and wife to James N. Boink Jr. for more than 29 years. She loved joining her children in school activities at Carrollton and Christopher Columbus High School, visiting at Boston College and Northeastern University and taking cruises around the world with James, who is Vice President of Private Destinations at Royal Caribbean in Miami.

Raphael was the oldest of four siblings, all adopted from St. Ann's Infant Home in Hyattsville, Maryland by James H. and Mary Jean "Bunny" Bastian. With support from her family, Raphael began searching for her biological parents at age 18. Nearly 25 years later, she found her father Doug Akagi, an award-winning graphic designer and professor in California. Doug embraced Raphael as his daughter. He invited her to the 100-year birthday party for her biological grandfather, Hiro Akagi, who had emigrated to the U.S. from Japan and introduced her to her stepbrother, Aaron. She learned that during World War II, the family was detained in U.S. internment camps for Japanese Americans and that Doug had been born there. They took a trip to Japan together, celebrated holidays and talked frequently.

Growing up in Washington, D.C., Raphael attended Stone Ridge School of the Sacred Heart for 13 years starting in kindergarten. Her sister, Marquette, followed one year behind. Here Raphael formed core friendships that continued until her death and helped develop the Catholic belief system that guided her life. Attending Georgetown University for college and the University of Miami for law school, Raphael continued her pattern of forming lifelong friendships and strong allegiances. A loyal friend who believed in showing up, she once attended approximately 17 weddings in different parts of the country, every invitation she received that year.

Her charitable work coincided with her job as Vice-president, General Counsel and Secretary to her family-owned business, SAT Holdings. Raphael's father, James Bastian, owned and operated Southern Air Transport, a cargo airline based in Miami. He urged Raphael to earn her pilot's license, which she did while still in high school. And he eventually recruited her to join as General Counsel of the airline in 1995. She left her position as Senior Attorney at the U.S. Security and Exchange Commission in Washington, D.C. Prior to that, she worked as a trial attorney at the U.S. Department of Justice Antitrust Division.

In addition to her husband and children, Raphael is survived by her sister Marquette Bastian Arnold (Steve) of Potomac, Maryland; her brother Bartholomew Bastian (Natacha) of Miami; Boniface Bastian (Joanna) of Miami; nephews Andrew and Josh Arnold, Christopher, Sean and Christian Bastian and Nathaniel Grines and dozens of lifelong friends.

Services will be held at Church of the Epiphany in Miami on May 9 at 11 a.m. The family has asked that in lieu of flowers, donations be made to the Carrollton Endowment Fund, www.carrollton.org/endowment or the Epiphany Endowment Fund, 8080 SW 54th Court, Miami, Florida 33143.