John Rank

John William Rank was born October 5, 1939, the son of Virgil and Edith Major Rank. He died Friday, November 27, 2009, at the Crawford County Memorial Hospital in Denison, Iowa, at the age of seventy.
John was born in Council Bluffs, Iowa. He was baptized on October 5, 1939, and confirmed in March 1955 at Immanuel Lutheran Church in Schleswig. He received his education in Soldier and Battle Creek Community Schools, and the Denison High School from where he graduated in 1958. While in high school he was active in playing basketball. He worked at Farmbest Foods for a short time and Henningsen Farm Store, remaining there for three years. He then farmed for thirty-one years and drove truck for fifteen years. On October 11, 1959, John was united in marriage to Arlene Henningsen at Zion Lutheran Church in Denison, by Rev. C.W. Schmidt. The couple made their home on a farm near Denison and were blessed with the birth of three children.
He was a loving husband, father and grandfather who loved caring for his family. His family was his life along with farming and trucking. He loved horses, Western movies and reading Western Horseman Magazine. The couple was blessed to have celebrated their fiftieth wedding anniversary this past October.
He was preceded in death by his parents, one sister, Shirley Rossow and one brother, Donald Rank in infancy. Survivors include his wife, Arlene of Denison; two daughters, Kris Christensen of Adel; and Diana Murnan and her husband, Daniel of Omaha, Nebraska; one son, Brian Rank and his wife, Sylvia of Denison; eight grandchildren: Joe (Teddra), Brad (Tara), Marcy (Dusty), Jessica (Brandon), Kara, Ean, Julian, Brea. Five great-grandchildren: Naniba, Tah, Yani, R.J. and Bailey a brother-in-law, Norman Rossow of Schleswig; Robert (Janice) Henningsen, Carol (Terry) Gehring, and Judy (Gary) Steffens; and many other relatives and friends.