Robert Rankin

Robert Rankin, 85, of Thousand Palms, CA passed away on June 26, 2008 in Rancho Mirage, CA. He was born August 13, 1922, to Robert Wilson Rankin and Mabel Patnoe in the farming village of Hazel Dell, just a few miles outside of Vancouver, WA. Born the youngest of six, he was named for his uncle Frank who was killed in World War I, and though baptized Francis Robert in the family he would be known to family and friends, as "Bob". He had the distinction of attending a one room school house in Hazel Dell and after graduation from Fort Vancouver High School in 1940, he went on to serve in World War II as a navigator in the Army Air Corps. He proudly served in the United States Army Air Corps from August 1941 to April 1946 as First Lieutenant participating in both theaters of War. It was while serving in the Army that he met and fell in love with his first wife Mary Jeanne McCarthy of Detroit, MI. They were married at Romulus Air Base outside Detroit, MI on Memorial Day 1945. When the war was over he followed his Army training into the commercial airlines industry, becoming the superintendent of navigation for Northwest Orient Airlines. The family moved from the west coast to the east when in 1960 Bob joined the expanding aerospace industry taking a job offer from GPL and the later IBM--relocating the family first to Peekskill and then, Endicott, NY. After a long 25 year career as a marketing manager for IBM, Bob and Mary retired and moved to Thousand Palms, CA. He was a member of the Ivey Ranch Country Club in Thousand Palms and St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Church in La Quinta. After his wife's death in 1997, Bob was fortunate to have found love once more, and on June 27, 2001, he was married to Ruth Matthews in Saint Catherine's Catholic Church in Avalon, CA. He is survived by his spouse of seven years, Ruth Matthews Rankin of Thousand Palms, CA, and his sons, Col. Dennis Rankin of Washington DC, and the Rev. Robert Rankin of Tucson, AZ; and daughters-in-law Susan and Kathryn Rankin. He is also survived by five grandchildren, Jennifer, Christopher, Robert, Casper, James, and six great-grandchildren. He was preceded in death by son Richard Rankin and his wife of 53 years, Mary Jeanne. Funeral service was held at St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Church on July 2, 2008 with interment at Riverside National Cemetery.