Shirley Ann (Holbrook) Rankin

</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of Shirley Ann (Holbrook) Rankin. She passed away peacefully at her home in Lauderhill, Fla., on Wednesday, March 10, 2010.

Shirley was born in Eldorado on April 17, 1935, and was the daughter of Howard and Myrl Holbrook. She attended school at Beulah Heights Grade School and graduated from Eldorado High school in 1952. She was very good at sports and loved playing basketball in high school. She had a great sense of humor and would often say or do things to make others laugh. Someone recently said, "She had a commanding presence about her that made you remember her," and that described her perfectly.

In 1953 she married Jim Rankin, a career Army man in Special Forces. They had a son, Gregory, whom they loved dearly and were very proud of always. At different times during their military life they were stationed in places such as Okinawa, Kentucky and Massachusetts, but were mainly based in North Carolina which they always considered "home." After retiring from the military, they returned to North Carolina, where they lived for several years before moving to Florida where Jim served as a deputy for Broward County Sheriff's Department. They loved visiting Hawaii and vacationed there as often as possible. Shirley and Jim spent many happy years together until he died in 1998.

Shirley was the only sister of Sue (Holbrook) Tomas, who now resides in Kalispell, Mont. She is also survived by her son, Gregory of Wilmington, N.C.; his wife, Vickie; and grandchildren, Autumn, Josh, Amy Beth, and Kimberly; her beloved niece, Julie Sonderegger and husband John, also of Kalispell, and great-nephews, Bryce, Jakob and Tristan, as well as a loving cousin, Leona Younger of Raleigh. She will be buried on March 30, 2010, with graveside services at Arlington National Cemetery, where Jim was laid to rest with military honors.

Shirley was dearly loved and will be missed by all of us.