Kirk Rankin

Kirk Rankin October 10, 1931 – October 7, 2017 Kirk Rankin, 85, of Ocean View, DE, formerly of Bethany Beach, DE and Washington, DC, passed away peacefully, surrounded by his family on October 7, 2017, at Beebe Hospital in Lewes, DE. Kirk was born in Nashville, Tennessee and eventually moved to Washington, DC. He spent 3 years in the Army, and he was sent to Monterey, CA where he studied Linguistics, specializing in Mandarin Chinese. Kirk eventually received a PhD in Linguistics. Kirk worked at the National Bureau of Standards as a computer scientist. He also was part of a group that started The Modern School of Language and taught English to foreigners as a second language. In addition, he taught linguistic graduate courses at American University. In the 70’s he started his own landscaping business, Kirk Rankin Landscaping, in Washington, DC. He then expanded his work to include customers in Bethany Beach, DE. He continued landscaping for over 30 years until he retired in 2003. Kirk designed and planted quite a few memorial gardens in Washington, DC as well as the Phil Brown memorial garden in Bethany Beach. Kirk did a lot of volunteer work in Washington DC as well at Bethany Beach. In Washington, he was the ANC (Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner) in his neighborhood for many years and worked hard to protect unnecessary development in the Palisades neighborhood. He also did volunteer work at The Washington National Cathedral where he would pick up the food that was donated at services and deliver it to various inner city churches for their food banks to help the needy. Kirk was the Planning and Zoning Commissioner in Bethany Beach for many years. He was part of the original July 4th Committee that started the July 4th celebrations in 1983 that continues today in Bethany. He was involved with the beginning organization of the End of Summer Jazz Funeral held in Bethany Beach every Labor Day that started in the early 80’s with a handful of people and now continues drawing huge crowds. After his retirement he lived full time in Bethany Beach and then moved to Ocean View, DE. He was a property owner in Bethany since 1967 and Ocean View since 2005. Kirk is survived by his wife of 43 years, Patsy Dill Rankin, of Ocean View, DE, his five children, Robin Rankin of Ocean View, DE, Charles Rankin of Bethesda, MD, Thorne Rankin & Kirk Rankin of Washington, DC, and Sinclair Rankin of Brooklyn, NY. Eight grandchildren, Willow & Luna Lewis of Ocean View, DE, Salli & Ginger Mandel, of Washington, DC, Kirk, Henry & Georgia Rankin of Washington DC, and Colin Rankin of Bethesda, MD. A Celebration of Life will be held for Kirk Rankin on Saturday, November 18, 2017 at 4:00 pm at Pie Restaurant, in Bethany Beach, DE. An additional memorial may be held in Washington DC at a future date. In memory of Kirk, please make donations to “Save The Manatees”, which he supported for many years. Save the Manatee Club 500 N. Maitland Ave. Maitland, FL 32751 To send flowers to the family or plant a tree in memory of Kirk Rankin, please visit our Heartfelt Sympathies Store.

Kirk Rankin

October 10, 1931 - October 7, 2017