Former Silver Dollar City spokesperson dies

Last edited 6:16 p.m., Dec. 21, 2025 [Editor's note: More information has been added.]

Lisa Rau, a longtime communications professional who was known in part for her time at Silver Dollar City and at KY3, died Dec. 11 at age 64.

Bluegrass Today and the Springfield News-Leader reported Rau recently underwent heart surgery.

“Lisa was a member of our work family for more than three decades before retiring in 2023,” Silver Dollar City officials said in a provided statement. “Her passion for telling the stories of our special city and the Ozarks was unparalleled. As our PR director, she built a legacy of theme park public relations. She was a tireless champion of our culture along the way. Her impact will live on in the hearts of our citizens.”

After her 2023 exit from Silver Dollar City, Rau became communications director for the city of Branson, according to past reporting. Her LinkedIn profile indicates she was self-employed via Lisa Rau Communications since December 2024.

In a provided statement, Branson Mayor Larry Milton called Rau “a cherished figure throughout the Ozarks.”

“Lisa was a gifted storyteller whose work, from her years in broadcasting to her leadership roles at Silver Dollar City and here at the city, helped shape how the world sees our community,” Milton said in the statement. “She uplifted the people around her and dedicated her career to highlighting the very best of Branson. Her impact on our city is lasting, and her loss is felt by all who knew and worked with her.”

During her more than three decades at Silver Dollar City, Rau won awards including international Brass Rings for public relations efforts, a Mid-America Emmy for video storytelling and myriad American Advertising Awards for broadcast advertising campaigns.

Dalton Fischer, chief communications officer for Theta Chi fraternity, told SBJ in a Dec. 16 phone interview from his home outside Kansas City that he worked with Rau at Silver Dollar City off and on for several years, beginning in 2017 as an intern and ending as a senior Silver Dollar City senior publicist.

Rau’s impact on the Branson region was in sharing authentic storytelling and in providing top-notch publicity, Fischer said: “She would always say, ‘You’ve got to believe in your own paparazzi,’ and what I understood that to mean (is that) … you’ve got to believe in your hearts that it is the premier vacation destination to go to. Because if you truly don’t believe that, people are going to see right through that every time.”

Fisher said Rau did love Branson.

“She did love Silver Dollar City, No. 1,” he said. “But she also really loved where she was from, from Michigan, and she always loved going home and seeing her family. That was another thing that was so important to her, was her family and her nieces.”

Rau loved Table Rock Lake, as well, Fischer said. Her Kimberling City home overlooked the lake. “That’s not by chance,” he said.

The Missouri Broadcasters Association mourned Rau on social media Dec. 11.

“The MBA is saddened to learn of Lisa Rau’s passing,” the post reads. “Lisa was a regular at our annual MBA Convention as she valued and supported the more than six-decade long partnership between local broadcasters and Silver Dollar City. Our condolences to Lisa’s family and friends.”

Branson Alderman Marshall Howden said on social media Dec. 11 that “Branson will never be the same” following Rau’s death.

“Lisa Rau played a major role in revitalizing the city of Branson communications department and of course was an iconic figure in the history of our community due to her work at Silver Dollar City and PR expertise that she provided to the entertainment industry of Branson as a whole,” Howden said. “Lisa was full of energy, fantastic at her job and a wealth of knowledge when it comes to the history of Branson. She will be deeply missed and forever loved.”

An obituary shared by Branson-based consultant Ann McDowell on Dec. 12 noted Rau had worked with Silver Dollar City Attractions and Herschend Family Entertainment for more than 34 years.

Rau graduated from Michigan’s Birmingham Seaholm High School and attended Stephens College in Missouri, earning her degree in TV/radio communications. She launched her professional career with an NBC affiliate in Columbia, then moved to Chicago for a stint at WGN. Soon she was back in Missouri, where she joined KY3 as a news reporter and anchor in Springfield.

At KY3, she excelled as an investigative reporter focused on environmental reporting. Rau received five Associated Press awards over more than six years with KY3, the obituary states.

She secured a job as director of publicity and public relations for Silver Dollar City Attractions and Herschend Family Entertainment in 1989. Those early, fast-growing years for the company and the community were profoundly enhanced by Rau’s media prowess and unparalleled passion for telling the stories of the Ozarks.

Rau, a self-proclaimed “junkyard dog publicist,” brought still-unprecedented worldwide exposure to the region, according to the provided obituary. She and her communications team launched An Old Time Christmas, The Grand Palace, Showboat Branson Belle and The Radio City Rockettes’ debut in Branson, as well as countless festivals, events, concerts, rides, shows and expansions by Herschend Family Entertainment, according to the obituary.

Rau was respected by media professionals across the country for her creativity, tenacity and passion for her work, and was a recognized industry speaker on crisis communications for international trade associations, the obituary states.

Her obituary states Rau was known for saying, “Life is a contact sport,” as she expanded her network of friends to include thousands from every walk of life. Mostly she loved people, regularly connecting new friends within her network and serving as an “unofficial publicity and public relations agent” for everyone she admired, and there were many.

A celebration of life service will be held at a date to be announced soon.