James A. Rankin

1925 - 2014

Mr. Rankin was born to Golda and Arthur Rankin in Denton, Montana in 1925. His family moved to Camas, Washington three years later and he attended a one-room grammar school in the Ireland District and also attended Camas High School, graduating in 1943. After High School, he was inducted into the Army Air Force. He attended mechanics and Gunnary school and was combat-trained on B25 Billy Mitchell aircraft as an engineer gunner. When the war ended, he enrolled in College at Washington State University, graduating in January, 1951 with a B.S. in civil Engineering. He accepted a position with the Inter-American Geodetic Survey and worked in the Republic of Panama and Peru where he met his wife of 51 years, Gloria Arenas Rankin. He then returned to the United States and worked for the City of Vancouver, Washington. In 1955 he took a job with Morrison Knudson General Contractors and moved to Columbia, South America where he worked on roads and bridges. When he returned back to the United States in 1958, he went to work for the City of Las Vegas as field Engineer. In 1963, he moved his family to Carson City and went to work as city engineer for the City and county of Carson City, Ormsby County. He retained that position until 1972, at which time he opened his own consulting engineering business and designed and field supervised the construction of numerous subdivisions and parcel maps. he retired and closed his business in 1997. Mr. Rankin loved the outdoors; hunting, fishing, and working with horses. He was past president and past member of Pony Express Association. He was one of the founding members of the Carson Chapter of the American Society of Engineers. He also served Carson City with the Carson City Mounted Sheriff’s Posse for over ten years. He is preceded in death by his wife, Gloria Rankin. He is survived by his children: Rita Kerr, Janice Del Rio (Bill), Bill Rankin (Gayle), and Rodney Rankin; his grandchildren, James, Amelia, Jack, Kyle, Michael, Jamie, and Romi, and his great-grandchildren, Alissa and Ryan.