Whenever people talk about Keith Alan Raniere not surviving a 20 or 30 year prison sentence, I always think of the longevity of some of his family on his father’s side. Raniere will be 60 on August 26, 2020. He is awaiting sentencing at the Brooklyn Metropolitan Detention Center..
His father, James, for instance, is over 90 and is alive and well and living in New York City. It is reported by a very reliable source that James has not visited or seen his son since he was arrested in 2018.
James’ mother, Keith’s grandmother, Marion Raniere, lived to be over 104 years old. In fact, the photo below shows Marion at her 104th birthday party at Saints Joachim and Anne Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Coney Island where she was a resident prior to her passing away a few years ago.
Her 104th birthday was on Jan 20, 2015 which means she was born in 1911. She was married to Rocco Raniere, who we will have a lot more to say about shortly, including his alleged role in the Mafia.
Keith often acted like a Mafiosi when he ran Nxivm.
Marion was a Catholic and seems to have been fairly active in the church, at least during her later years.
Her son, James Raniere, who is Keith’s father, attended her 104th birthday party.
Marion Raniere at age 104
James Raniere with his mother, Marion Raniere.
According to BrooklynPaper.com [Jan. 23, 2015]
Three cheers to Marion Raniere, who turned 104 years young on Jan. 20. Our pal Marion, a resident at Saint Joachim and Anne Nursing and Rehabilitation Center, partied down with son James Raniere with music, prayer, and friends, and enjoyed a very delicious cake.
Marion has lived at the center for the past seven months and enjoys participating in all the social events, including table-top bowling, where she knocks ’em all down. She also sings with residents during musical programs.
Along with all her accomplishments, Marion also enjoys sharing memories of her life with fellow residents, staff and visitors, and shows off her acute memory during trivia contests and word games, but her favorite pastime of all is visiting with her family.
Standing O wishes Marion cent’anni (100 years more)!
***
Her birthday party was several years before her grandson, Keith, became infamous for branding women and was subsequently arrested.
I do not know exactly when Marion died, but it was apparently several years ago – which means she did not live to see the worldwide notoriety her grandson achieved.
Marion was also honored at a NY Rangers [NHL] game as being the teams’ oldest fan in 2011, just after turning 100.
Marion [nee Ranieri] married Rocco Raniere in 1931. Interestingly, Rocco and Marion were cousins. And they were both named Ranieri and came from Sicily.
Rocco changed his name to Raniere and his wife/cousin took her husband’s name. They had two sons and no daughters. In addition to their son, James, they had another son, Ralph.
Rocco died in the 1980s.
DId Keith’s grandparents being cousins in any way affect his peculiar and bizarre mental and physical condition? He was, after all, kind of a freak of nature.
He was the only child of James Raniere.
We will have more to report on Rocco and how he went to prison and who attended his funeral when he passed away. In short, we will explore his Mafia connections.
As for Keith, his grandparents seemed to have doted on the little rascal, possibly spoiling him, calling him the genius of the family, even before he took his bogus IQ test in 1989. He was raised with the idea that he was a very special child of extraordinary intelligence.
When Keith grew up and became a cult leader, he did not seem to spend much time with his grandmother. He did not attend her 104th birthday party evidently, and as far as is known, he barely communicated with any of his family after he reached Vanguard status in 1998.
Keith Alan Raniere. He may be as old as his grandmother when he finally gets out of prison.
During the pre-Vanguard days, when Keith was operating his pyramid scheme called Consumers’ Buyline, he worked with his father and it appears it ended when he fought with his father – over money.
At one time, his father sued Keith for cheating him out of money, something that one would expect from Keith.
James Raniere also had a colorful history and we shall delve into that more in a subsequent post.
The last time James was seen around Nxivm members was at Pam Cafritz’s memorial which occurred, as I recall, in early 2017, in Albany, several months after Pam’s passing away and about six months before I broke the branding and blackmail story about Raniere and DOS that led to his arrest and conviction.
James knew Pam and several of the old-time Raniere harem/inner circle members – and some of them knew Rocco and Marion. May they rest in peace.
Marion Raniere at her 104th birthday party.
