Arthur Rankin

Arthur Francis Rankin, born October 5, 1928 to Arthur and Evelyn Rankin. A lifelong resident of Columbus, he attended Saint Cyprian Elementary School. He was the first black to attend and to graduate from Holy Rosary High School in 1946. He was a member of St. Cyprian, St. Dominic, and St. Thomas Catholic churches, respectively. Arthur served 4 years in the Navy Reserve before he was drafted into the US Army. He served in the Korean War from 1950-1952 in the Signal Corps research and development laboratory. He met the love of his life Winnie Coley in 1952 at a restaurant called Bubbles. They married on December 25, 1953 and remained together for 55 years, raising three children. Throughout the years, they were members of Saint Cyprian, Saint Dominic, and Saint Thomas Catholic Church’s, respectively. Arthur joined the Columbus Division of Fire in June 1953, where he served the citizens of Columbus until his retirement in 1984. He was influenced by the 1935 class of Fire Station 8, referred to as “A Few Good Men”. Recognizing the changes that were going on in our society, coupled with the challenges, dreams, and sacrifices of those “Few Good Men”, he along with Russ Dandridge, Lem Ferguson, Jim Garrison, and a myriad of community leaders and activist, area churches, the NAACP, Cross and Shield, the Maltese Falcons, and the International Association of Black Professional Fire Fighters, sought and fought to increase the minority participation in the fire service. Arthur was truly humbled to “play his part” in the recruitment, preparation, advertisement, guidance, training, and mentoring of the men and women that followed. The challenges, dreams, and sacrifices were later realized in 2002 when the City of Columbus named the first black Fire Chief, Ned Pettus, Jr. On November 14, 2017, Arthur passed away. He was preceded in death by his parents and his beloved wife Winnie (Coley) Rankin. He is survived by his children, Herb (Linda) Rankin, Karen Rankin, and Christina Rankin; grandchildren, Felisa Hill and Herb Rankin, Jr.; and great grandchildren, Davian, Zaire, and Zakar.