Theodore Rankin's Obituary
Ted's Life in a Capsule Ted was born October 28, 1924 is Pasadena, California he was raised by his mother Elizabeth Jones. Ted and his mother moved to San Francisco when ted was 11. He attended Marina Jr. H.S. and Galileo H.S. He was an outstanding athlete, lettering in baseball, football, and track, but was not a very good student. When WWII began he joined the U.S. Coast Guard at age 17. After completing basic training, he was assigned for special training with the Marines in amphibious warfare. He served in the pacific campaign for three and a half years. His destroyer, the U.S.S Gregory, was sunk at Guadalcanal and the other ship on which he served was severely damaged in Okinawa. Ted was wounded for a second time and spent the remainder of the war at the Veterans Hospital at Livermore. While recovering, Ted organized a Patient's Rights Committee. He also organized an in house radio program that brought the patients the latest news about Veteran benefits. After two and a half years of rehabilitation he was discharged.Ted's WWII decorations include two Purple Hearts, U.S. Coast Guard Commendation Medal, Philippine Liberation Medal, Pacific Campaign, and the China Memorial War Medal.In 1945 he entered the University of Southern California to study Public Administration under the G.I. Bill, ultimately receiving BS, MS, and DPA degrees. While attending USC he met and married Ines Heppner and had one son, Daniel Francis. Ted joined the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department in 1950 to support his family, but continued his education part time. While with the Sheriff's Department he was asked by Long Beach State College to teach a class in Police Science part time, which he accepted. Ted retired from the Sheriff's Department in 1964 to accept the position of Assistant Professor at Rio Hondo College in Whittier, California. The next year he was appointed Assistant Director of the Police Science program. The following year, he was elected to serve as National President of Lambda Epsilon, Criminal Justice Fraternity. He served in this position for two years. During his tenure at Rio Hondo he coached his students to a national championship for two year colleges in Police Science Competition.Following a divorce in 1970, he was contacted by the California Justice Department to accept the position as Director of Police Training for the County of San Mateo. He held this position until he retired in 1988.During this period he met Lisa Pantaleoni. They were married in 1973 had have been happily married ever since. Lisa became a San Mateo police officer and retired after thirty years of service. She was his inspiration.Ted belongs to many service organizations such as the Disabled American Veterans Association, Veterans of Foreign Ways, USCG Combat Veterans, Four Stack Destroyers Assoc. and Guadalcanal Combat Veterans Association and the College of San Mateo Cancellor's Scholarship Association.After his retirement he and Lisa became avid travelers, skiers, and small boat sailors. Ted became a member of the Far West Ski Association skiing in the senior division. During this period he won the California State NASTAR championship on the 60-70 age group. He specialized in slalom racing. In his racing career he won over 40 gold medals.Ted also became an accomplished artist in his retirement, painting mainly landscapes and seascapes. Many of his paintings have been sold with the proceeds going to various youth groups.Ted loved to quote a passage he once read, 'Life is too short to wake up with regrets, so love the people that treat you right. Forget about those who don't. Believe everything happens for a reason. If you get a chance, take it. If it changes your life, let it. Nobody said life would be easy, they just promised it would likely be worth it.'
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