Florence “Flo” Ridgdill Rankin, 55, of Tifton died Sunday, October 21, 2012, at Emory University Hospital in Atlanta of complications from pneumonia. Memorial services will be held at 2:00 p.m. on Saturday, Oxctober 27, 2012, at Saint Anne’s Episcopal Church. Father David Rose will officiate with a private burial to follow. Past and present employees of The Tifton Gazette will serve as honorary pallbearers.
The family will receive friends from 1:00 p.m. until the hour of the service on Saturday, Odtober 27, 2012, at Saint Anne’s Episcopal Church parish hall.
Born January 25, 1957 in Tifton, Mrs. Rankin was the daughter of John Charles Ridgdill and Colleen Wheeler Ridgdill, both deceased. In addition to her parents, she was also preceded in death by her brother, the Rev. Thomas L. McCall.
Mrs. Rankin was educated in the Tifton public schools and attended Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College and Valdosta State University. She and her husband, Shine Fleetwood Rankin, were married January 20, 1974 at Saint Anne’s Episcopal Church.
Mrs. Rankin was editor of The Tifton Gazette and was the winner of numerous Georgia Press Association awards. She was a member of Saint Anne’s Episcopal Church, where she had served on the Vestry and was a member of the Altar Guild. She had served on the boards of the United Way of Tift County and the local chapter of the American Red Cross, and she was a member of the Tift County Rotary Club.
Mrs. Rankin is survived by her husband of 38 years, Shine Fleetwood Rankin of Tifton; a daughter and son-in-law, Elizabeth Rankin Milner and Jason Bradley Milner of Columbia, Maryland; four sons and a daughter-in-law, Shine Fleetwood Rankin Jr. of Tifton, John Stewart Rankin and Heather Holtz Rankin of Solvay, New York, Drew Gregory Rankin of Morris, Minnesota and Homer Meade Rankin IV of Tifton; a brother, William “Andy” McCall of Tifton; and five grandchildren, John Bradley “Jack” Milner, Henry Tift Milner, Cayden Bailey Rankin, Maddie Grace Rankin and Noah Grayson Rankin.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Easter Seals of Tift County, 1402 Tift Avenue North, Tifton, GA 31794 or to Saint Anne’s Episcopal Church, P.O. Box 889, Tifton, GA 31793.