Harold 'Gene' Rankin
[May
15, 2013]
URBANA --
Harold Eugene (Gene) Rankin, of Urbana, Illinois,
died Monday, May 13, 2013, after a brief illness.
(Below is a copy of
the obituary from the funeral home.)
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Harold Eugene (Gene) Rankin, of Urbana, Illinois,
died Monday, May 13, 2013, after a brief illness.
Graveside services will be held at Zion Cemetery,
Lincoln, IL, at 10:30am, Saturday, May 18. The Rev.
Ryan Edgecombe will officiate. Holland Barry &
Bennett Funeral Home of Lincoln is in charge of
the arrangements.
Mr. Rankin was born in Lincoln, IL, the only child
of Harold T and Helen E Rankin. He married Norma
Gehlbach, who survives. Also surviving are a son,
John (Sandra) Rankin, of Danbury, CT, a daughter,
Nancy (Lawrence) Jeckel, of Champaign, and two
grandsons, Benjamin (Laura) Jeckel of Long Grove and
Christopher Jeckel of Chicago, and three great
grandsons. Mr. Rankin was preceded in death by his
parents and a grandson, John A Rankin.
Gene was a longtime resident of Champaign/Urbana. He
worked in the Urbana School System for 35 years,
teaching at Washington School and subsequently
serving as principal of Lincoln-Thornburn, Wiley,
and Martin Luther King, Jr. schools.
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Gene and Norma moved back to Lincoln, their
hometown, in 2000, living in the Lincoln Christian
Village. They returned to Urbana this past January.
Mr. Rankin was a graduate of Lincoln High School and
Illinois Wesleyan University, and received a Masters
Degree in Educational Administration from the
University of Illinois. He was a veteran of World
War II, serving in the Pacific Theater.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests that
donations be made to the Blind Service Association,
17 North State Street, Suite 1050, Chicago, Illinois
60602.
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