Francis Rankin; For 40 Years He Was `Wallingford's Doctor'

Francis Rankin had earned the title, "Wallingford's doctor."

He said he probably had seen the inside of nearly every house on Seattle's Meridian Avenue North in 40 years of practice in the area.

"House calls were an everyday experience, not like today," said his daughter Leslie Rankin of Seattle.

He opened his first office across from the old Wallingford Elementary School before World War II. During the war he served as an Army Air Forces physician in the Far East. Afterward he built a medical-dental clinic on Northeast 45th Street across from what became the landmark Dick's Drive In. He practiced at that clinic until retiring in 1980.

Dr. Rankin died of a stroke last Saturday (March 15). He was 85.

He was a dedicated man, tall and handsome with dark curly hair and kind yet strong gray eyes that didn't miss a thing, his daughter said.

"He believed doctors needed to spend time with people in order to provide good medical care, not just rely on tests. He lamented that doctors hurry, that there are too many specialists and not enough general practitioners."

According to his daughter Elizabeth Rankin of Seattle: "He believed in being honest and keeping his word and commitments. He taught his two daughters to be independent thinkers and delighted in his (two) grandchildren."

Born on Isla de Providencia, Colombia, he completed early schooling in the Panama Canal Zone.

At age 14 he traveled by ship to Ellis Island in New York Bay, and traveled from that immigration point to boarding school in Michigan. He completed premed training at Andrews University in Berrien Springs, Mich., and earned a medical degree at Loma Linda University in Southern California in 1938.

His duties as a resident at Seattle's Swedish Hospital before World War II included driving an ambulance. Later in life, whenever an ambulance screamed by, he'd joke, "Don't worry, they're just going for lunch."

He liked to stay busy, and doggedly completed every project he began, particularly woodworking.

"He always had to have a project," said Leslie Rankin. "He was either building a boat, fixing a boat or sailing one. He took us up the Inside Passage to Desolation Sound, spent time in the San Juans,

and fished in Puget Sound into his late 70s."

Other survivors include his wife of the past 25 years, Elizabeth Rankin of Seattle, and his first wife, Margaret Rankin, also of Seattle. Services have been held. Memorials may go to Medic One Foundation, c/o Harborview Medical Center, Box 359748, 325 Ninth Ave., Seattle, WA, 98104.